Clinical features, surgical management, and long-term prognosis of chest wall tumors

Abstract

<bold>Introduction:</bold> Chest wall tumors are rare, accounting for less than 5% of all tumors of the chest. They can be malignant or benign and represent countless histological entities. <bold>Methods:</bold> We report a retrospective study of 190 cases of chest wall tumors operated on in Ariana’s thoracic surgery department between January 2000 and December 2020. <bold>Results:</bold> These were 94 women and 96 men. The mean age was 41 years. The tumor was located on the right in 99 cases and bilateral in 3 cases. The procedure consisted of a lumpectomy in 85 cases, a biopsy in 28 cases, a cystectomy in 2 cases, a vascular ligation in one case, a rib resection in 70 cases, of which one was associated with sternal resection and one was associated with lumpectomy. The postoperative course was uneventfull for 9 patients and the 3 year survival rate was 75%. Factors that affected survival were evidence of distant metastasis and the type of pathology. Recurrences occurred in 11 patients. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> The diagnosis of the chest wall tumors is guided by imaging, but confirmation is always histopathological. Surgery with wide margin remains the central pivot of multimodal care with acceptable morbidity and mortality.