Outcome of surgical intervention for isolated intrathoracic lymph node metastasis from infradiaphragmatic malignancy: report of two cases.

We report 2 cases with isolated intrathoracic lymph node involvement. This is an unusual manifestation of metastatic spread from an extrathoracic malignancy. Case 1 was a 47-year-old female with a history of radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer of the uterus. Left intrathoracic lymphadenopathy was detected during follow-up. These lesions were surgically removed and diagnosed as multiple lymph node metastases. Two years later, right intrathoracic lymphadenopathy was evident and excised again. Eight months after the re-thoracotomy, retroperitoneal recurrence appeared and she died of the disease. Case 2 was a 41-year-old female with a history of resection of sigmoid colon cancer with liver metastases. A solitary nodule in the left upper lobe was shown by a chest computed tomography (CT). Left upper lobectomy was performed and the lesion was diagnosed as a solitary lymph node metastasis. She has had no recurrence for 3 years since thoracotomy.