Citation: Nguyen, A.; Solovei, L.;
Marty-Ané, C.; Bourdin, A.; Canaud,
L.; Alric, P.; Hireche, K. Arterial
Sleeve Lobectomy: Does Pulmonary
Artery Reconstruction Type Impact
Lung Function? Cancers 2023, 15,
4971. https://doi.org/10.3390/
cancers15204971
Academic Editors: Noriyoshi
Sawabata and Yuichi Saito
Received: 21 September 2023
Revised: 7 October 2023
Accepted: 9 October 2023
Published: 13 October 2023
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
cancers
Article
Arterial Sleeve Lobectomy: Does Pulmonary Artery
Reconstruction Type Impact Lung Function?
Aude Nguyen
1,
*, Laurence Solovei
1
, Charles Marty-Ané
1,2
, Arnaud Bourdin
2,3
, Ludovic Canaud
1,2
,
Pierre Alric
1,2
and Kheira Hireche
1,2
1
Department of Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Arnaud de Villeneuve University Hospital,
191 Avenue Doyen Gaston Giraud, 34090 Montpellier, France; l-solovei@chu-montpellier.fr (L.S.);
kheira.hireche@yahoo.fr (K.H.)
2
PhyMedExp, University of Montpellier, INSERM, CNRS, 34295 Montpellier, France
3
Department of Respiratory Diseases, Arnaud de Villeneuve University Hospital,
191 Avenue Doyen Gaston Giraud, 34090 Montpellier, France
* Correspondence: audeliennguyen@gmail.com
Simple Summary: Lung cancer is the second most frequent tumor worldwide. In cases of pulmonary
artery invasion, arterial sleeve lobectomy has progressively gained acceptance as an advantageous
alternative to pneumonectomy, but few studies have considered lung perfusion and respiratory func-
tion. This single-center retrospective cohort study aimed to assess the impact of arterial reconstruction
techniques on lung perfusion and respiratory function. Between January 2001 and December 2020, a
comparative analysis of 48 patients’ preoperative and postoperative functional outcomes (FEV
1
) and
28 patients’ preoperative and postoperative lung perfusion results was conducted. Regardless of the
type of vascular reconstruction, the study revealed no significant difference between the perfusion
ratio of the remaining parenchyma before and after surgery. Moreover, arterial reconstruction did not
negatively affect the expected postoperative respiratory function. Arterial sleeve lobectomy is a valid
parenchymal-sparing technique in terms of perfusion and respiratory function.
Abstract: Background: The aim of this single-center retrospective cohort study was to assess the
impact of arterial reconstruction technique on lung perfusion. The second objective was to ascertain
the functional validity of arterial sleeve lobectomy. Method: Between January 2001 and December
2020, a total of 81 patients underwent lobectomy with pulmonary artery (PA) reconstruction for
lung cancer at the University Hospital of Montpellier. After excluding patients with an incomplete
postoperative pulmonary function test, we conducted a comparative analysis of the preoperative and
postoperative functional outcomes (FEV
1
) of 48 patients, as well as the preoperative and postopera-
tive Technetium99m scintigraphic pulmonary perfusion results of 28 patients. Then, we analyzed
postoperative perfusion results according to the pulmonary artery reconstruction techniques use.
Results: PA reconstruction types were as follows: 9 direct angioplasties (19%), 14 patch angioplasties
(29%), 7 end-to-end anastomoses (15%), 6 prosthetic bypasses (12%), 11 arterial allograft bypasses
(23%), and 1 custom-made xenopericardial conduit bypass. Regardless of the type of vascular
reconstruction performed, the comparative analysis of lung perfusion revealed no significant dif-
ference between the preoperative and postoperative perfusion ratio of the remaining parenchyma
(median = 29.5% versus 32.5%, respectively; p = 0.47). Regarding the pulmonary functional test,
postoperative predicted FEV
1
significantly underestimated the actual postoperative measured FEV
1
by about 260 mL (11.4%) of the preoperative value. The patency rate was 96% and the 5-year overall
survival was 49% for a mean follow up period of 34 months. Conclusion: Lobectomy with PA recon-
struction is a valid parenchymal-sparing technique in terms of perfusion and respiratory function.
Keywords: non-small-cell lung cancer; pulmonary artery; sleeve lobectomy; lung perfusion; lung
function
Cancers 2023, 15, 4971. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15204971 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cancers