Department of General Thoracic Surgery

The department of General Thoracic Surgery at Saitama Medical Center provides expert surgical treatment for a variety of thoracic conditions. We have extensive experience across the full spectrum of thoracic surgical procedures. Also, our experts offer individualized, multidisciplinary - surgical and non-surgical - care to the patients according to the type of the disease and their progression. We work closely with Pulmonary Medicine, Radiology, and Radiation Oncology specialists to achieve the most accurate diagnosis and the best treatment results. In case of an abnormality in your chest X-ray is pointed out in the annual health check-up, or if your family physician recommends you to consult lung experts, please visit us.

Lung cancer is the most common disease treated in our department. Lung cancer is still a tough disease to treat, but curable if it is treated with surgery in an early stage. We have extensive experience with both minimally invasive and traditional surgical procedure. We perform video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with minimum wounds for the early-stage disease. For the advanced diseases, our expert surgeons are willing to perform aggressive surgical procedures like bronchial reconstruction and angioplasty to preserve pulmonary function and achieve the best quality of life.

Lung cancer is more common in elderlies aged over 70 years old. Many patients have comorbidities like chronic respiratory diseases such as emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. We can offer personalized, comprehensive care for these complicated situations by taking advantage of the strength of the General Hospital. Our cooperation with experts of each field provides unparalleled clinical care, the safety of the treatment, and the best results.

Even if a cure through surgery is difficult, we will provide the best treatment options without giving up. We always emphasize the trust relationship with parents, and we try to treat patients compassionately considering their feelings and keeping their social and economic factors in mind so please feel free to consult with us when you visit our hospital.

We welcome second opinion consultations for those who have already been consulted in other hospitals and who seek the possibility of alternative treatment options. Of course, not everything is possible. However, there are cases surgery would be difficult in other hospitals but may be possible in different ways.

We will provide excellent advice if you need to consult with us.

Sincerely,

Mitsuo Nakayama, MD. Ph.D. FACS.
Professor of Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Saitama Medical Center

Thank you very much for your interest in our website. We treat all kinds of thoracic diseases which require surgery. This includes:

• Primary lung cancer,
• Metastatic lung tumors,
• Pneumothorax,
• Mediastinal tumors (Thymoma, Thymic cancer, etc.)
• Tracheal or Bronchiolar stenosis,
• Inflammatory lung diseases (Tuberculosis, Non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection, empyema, and aspergillosis)

We propose the best treatment options, considering the wishes of the patient and his or her families. Our expert surgeons provide the patient with safe and secure treatments.

We welcome you in case if lung and chest diseases are suspected, including abnormalities in a chest X-ray. We will do our best to eliminate your anxiety and symptoms so that you can recover your "normal life" as soon as possible.

Please see the detail of the diseases below.

The Division of Thoracic Surgery at Saitama Medical Center provides specialized surgical treatment for thoracic diseases below:

• Lung cancer
• Metastatic lung tumor
• Mediastinal tumor
• Spontaneous pneumothorax
• Thoracic trauma
• Empyema
• Benign and malignant tracheal/bronchial stenosis

We continue to expand treatment options for patients, utilizing not only standard thoracic surgical surgery but also the high-quality surgical technique of minimally invasive procedures and extended surgery. We have extensive experience of tracheobronchial plasty and angioplasty to preserve lung function, extended lung resection with the left atrium, great vessels or chest wall, and minimally-invasive procedures, including video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS).

While the main target diseases are malignant tumors, including lung cancer, we also treat diverse kinds of inflammatory diseases (tuberculosis of the trachea/bronchus, empyema, non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection, and aspergillosis). We are proud to be a main regional referral center of mid-west Saitama area. Our surgeons offer excellent care for the cases with multiple comorbidities taking advantage of the strength of the General Hospital. We are also willing to treat previously unsuccessful surgical cases from other hospitals. Our treatment safety and success rate is pretty high, even in these complex cases. One of our specialty is tracheal and bronchial treatment. Patients from other prefectures visit us searching for a cure. We provide best-individualized treatment employing all the latest advances, including tracheal and bronchial plasty, YAG laser ablation, and airway stenting.

Our hospital provides a team approach for patients, so patients do not need to worry about whichever (internal medicine or surgery) department he/she should consult. We provide multidisciplinary care, most accurate diagnosis and best treatment plan for each patient through the team conference of Pulmonary Medicine, Radiology, Radiation Oncology, and Surgery specialists. So please do not hesitate to consult us about any case with an abnormality in the chest X-ray, regardless of the surgical indication.

As an academic center, we have three important missions; patients’ treatment, education, and research. We constantly strive to develop next-generation leaders of thoracic surgeons with unmatched surgical performance, deep clinical knowledge, great communication skills, ethical compliance, and full awareness of patient safety. Also, we lead the cutting edge translational and clinical research efforts aimed at improving patient care and outcomes. Keeping the standpoint of the academic hospital, our department always aims for the highest level of medical care and best patient safety in Japan. We provide the best quality of individualized medicine and contribute to local community medical needs.

We welcome residents who want to get a degree and board certification of general thoracic surgery and also who seeks the chance to study abroad. Our faculty will be a great help for you. Please feel free contact with us.