• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 1998

Between January 1979 and August 1996, resection of a primary chest wall tumor was done in 51 patients. The mean age of the patients was 36.1 years(2 to 69 years). A palpable mass was the most common symptom(32 patients, 62.7%). The tumor was malignant in 11 patients (21.6%) and benign in 40 patients(78.4%). The tumors in 32 patients(62.7%) had developed from the bony or the cartilaginous wall and in 19 patients(37.3%) from soft tissue. Thirty seven of the patients with benign tumors were treated by excision (three of the patients: wide resection and reconstruction) without recurrence or death, and they are currently free from disease. Most malignancies(8 patients) were treated by wide resection and chest wall reconstruction. Five of them are currently alive. The chest wall reconstruction with Marlex mesh, Prolene mesh, or Teflon felt was done in five of the patients with malignant tumors. There was no operative or hospital mortality among the total 51 patients.