Pulmonary function after lobectomy in children under ten years of age.

A long-term follow-up study on pulmonary function in twelve lobectomized children under ten years of age at the time of surgery was performed to determine the patterns of compensation. In the patients over ten years old at the time of the test performed over two years postoperatively, there was neither compensatory regeneration nor compensatory overdistension of the remaining lung tissue. However, there appeared to be an increase in the vital capacity, probably due to the growth of surrounding tissue such as thorax, respiratory muscles, and diaphragm. In contrast, the children tested under the age of eight years showed evidence of mild overdistension during the early postoperative period, but not at two years. There was no sign of overdistension in the patients over ten years of age at the time of testing.