ABSTRACT
The modern era of chest wall resection began late in the 1960s, thanks to the improvement in surgical techniques and anesthesia, the introduction of antibiotics and intensive care units, and the development of new methods of reconstruction. The principal requirement for adequate local control of chest wall tumors remains wide local excision. Metastatic lesions are the most common tumors occurring in the chest wall and are seen more frequently than either primary malignant or benign tumors. In the adult population, the most common metastatic chest wall lesions are those arising from lung, breast, kidney, or prostate cancers. In children, neuroblastoma, leukemia, and Ewing's sarcoma are the most common metastatic lesions presenting as chest wall masses. Usually, cartilaginous tumors arise along the costochondral junctions in the anterior aspect of the chest. Routine preoperative evaluation should include chest X-ray, arterial blood gas analysis, and spirometry before and after bronchodilation.
