Clinical and morphological analysis of 143 cases of "pulmonary peripheral shades" in patients treated in the department of thoracic surgery of Medical Academy in Lublin.

In spite of a constant development of various diagnostic methods, in many cases of "peripheral shades" the exploratory opening of the chest appears to be the only way leading to a correct diagnosis. In this study, 143 patients were examined. These patients were referred to the Thoracic Surgery Department because of peripheral shades in the lung areas observed, often accidentally; on regular checkup X rays. Our paper assessed the usefulness of endoscopic examinations in diagnosing the changes situated peripherally in the lungs. 83.2% of those shades were recognized as neoplasms on the basis of histopathological examinations. Moreover , we evaluated the concordance of histopathological diagnosis before and after the operation.