Clinical study of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery wedge resection in early-stage lung cancer by tumor mapping with indocyanine green

Aim This study aimed to assess the clinical effectiveness of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) in early-stage lung cancer by indocyanine green (ICG) for tumor mapping. Material and methods Thirty patients with early-stage lung cancer with peripheral nodules smaller than 2 cm scheduled for computed tomography (CT)-guided microcoil placement followed by ICG tumor mapping by VATS wedge resection were enrolled. After microcoil deployment, 100 to 150 ml of diluted ICG was injected percutaneously near the nodule. The nodule initially was localized solely by using a near-infrared ray (NIR) thoracoscope to visualize ICG fluorescence. Thoracoscopic instruments were used to determine the staple line. Wedge resection was performed after confirmation of the location of the microcoil using fluoroscopy and pathology results. Results Thirty patients underwent VATS resection. The median tumor size was 1.3 cm by CT. The median depth from the pleural surface was 1.7 cm (range: 0.5-3.8 cm). The median CT-guided intervention time was 25 min, and VATS procedural time was 50 min. ICG fluorescence was clearly identified in 30 of 30 patients (100%). The surgical margins were all negative on final pathology in all included cases. The final diagnoses were 30 primary lung cancers; none needed additional resection. Conclusions CT-guided percutaneous ICG injection and intraoperative NIR localization of small nodules are safe and feasible. These offer surgeons the ease of localization through direct indocyanine green fluorescence imaging without the use of fluoroscopy and may be a complementary technique to preoperative microcoil placement for nonvisible, nonpalpable intrapulmonary nodules.