[Stress tolerance in general thoracic surgery].

The degree of lung tissue-reducing operative procedures is determined by the functional reserves of the patients. The borderline functional reserves are well defined. The 30 days postoperative lethality may be regarded as the criterion for the immediate stress due to the surgery of the bronchial carcinoma. It amounts for pneumonectomies to 6-7% and for lobectomies to 3-4%. An unsolved problem is bifurcation surgery, which still leads to a lethality of 30%. Simultaneous bilateral resection of lung metastases has to prove its efficacy by long term observation employing an interdisciplinary concept. The operation lethality of the mesothelioma has decreased to 12%, long term observations are still missing.