Clinical analysis of progressive destroyed lung after lung cancer surgery.

Background: "Progressive destroyed lung (PDL)" refers to a state in which the normal structure and function of the lung are permanently disrupted owing to repeated inflammation. After lung cancer surgery, the remaining lung tissue can experience progressive destruction; however, the exact cause remains unclear. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed cases in which the remaining lung deteriorated after lung cancer surgery and investigated the associated risk factors.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted on 31 cases of PDL and 247 cases of non-PDL among 1,234 patients who underwent surgery for primary lung cancer from 2006 to 2021. The following factors were analyzed: age, sex, medical history, smoking status, surgical procedure, lung cancer histology, surgical approach, postoperative complications, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and lung cancer recurrence. Patients were matched 1:1 based on preoperative factors, and postoperative risk factors were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Results: A higher proportion of men and higher prevalence of chronic lung diseases, smokers, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), postoperative acute pneumonia, chronic pneumonia, air leak, and history of radiation therapy were noted in the PDL group than in the non-PDL group. In the analysis following propensity score matching, chronic pneumonia [odds ratio (OR): 10.1, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.9 to 35.8] was identified as an independent risk factor for PDL.

Conclusions: In this study, PDL after lung cancer surgery was associated with postoperative chronic pneumonia, including infection and aspiration pneumonia.