Tolerance of the aorta using intraoperative iodine-125 interstitial brachytherapy in cancer of the lung.

Purpose: A retrospective review to assess the efficacy and morbidity of surgical resection and (125)I interstitial lung brachytherapy placed in approximation to the aorta.

Methods And Materials: The records and postoperative films of 278 patients who had undergone intrathoracic (125)I brachytherapy at our institution were reviewed. All patients had undergone a gross total resection of a non-small-cell lung cancer using segmental resection, wedge resection, or sublobar resection.