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Richard F. Heitmiller, MD

Arch Surg. 2007;142(2):118.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Very few studies have attempted to correlate long-term postesophagectomy survival with hospital case volumes. Rouvelas and colleagues take advantage of an unusual in-patient cancer registry, initiated in Sweden in 1987, that provided medical data for a cohort of 1199 patients with esophageal cancer operated on during a 14-year interval. High-volume hospitals performed 10 or more esophagectomies per year. There were 2 HVHs and 51 LVHs. Patient demographics, tumor stage, and tumor histology were closely matched for the 2 groups.

Operative mortality for HVHs and LVHs were 4% and 9%, respectively. This did not reach statistical significance (P = .09). Likewise, there was no statistical difference in the 30-day, 1-year, 3-year, or 5-year survival figures between the 2 groups. The authors conclude that hospital volume does not affect long-term survival.

This is a well-organized study taking advantage of a unique nationwide database with complete follow-up. Limitations include . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Impact of Hospital Volume on Long-term Survival After Esophageal Cancer Surgery
Ioannis Rouvelas, Mats Lindblad, Wenyi Zeng, Pernilla Viklund, Weimin Ye, and Jesper Lagergren
Arch Surg. 2007;142(2):113-117.
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