Lobectomy Health Article

Definition

A lobectomy is the removal of a lobe of one of the organs, usually referring to the brain, the lung, or the liver.

Purpose

Lobectomies are usually performed to prevent the spread of cancer from part of one organ to other parts of the organ or other parts of the body. Lobectomies are also performed on patients with severe seizure disorders (such as some forms of epilepsy) to prevent further seizures. However, there are differences in each of the three organs on which lobectomies may be performed.

Description

The brain

Each lobe of the brain performs a different function, and when part of the brain is removed, it does not grow back. However, other parts of the brain can take over some, or all, of the function of the missing part of the brain. Depending on the part of the brain removed, the effects may be quite severe, or nearly nonexistent.

The most commonly referenced brain lobectomy in the medical literature is the removal of the temporal lobe. Temporal lobectomy is usually performed to prevent debilitating seizures. Seizures are commonly caused by temporal lobe epilepsy, but can also be caused by brain tumors in the temporal lobe. Thus, lobectomy of the temporal lobe in patients with a temporal lobe tumor reduces or eliminates seizures, and has the beneficial side effect of removing the tumor mass.

The lung

Lobectomies of the lung are also called pulmonary lobectomies. Each part of the lung performs the same function: it exchanges oxygen for carbon dioxide in the blood. There are many different lobes of the lung, however, and some lobes exchange more oxygen than others. Lobes of the lung do not regenerate after they are removed. Therefore, removal of a large portion of the lung may require a person to need oxygen or ventilator support for the rest of his or her life. However, removal of a small portion of the lung may result in very little change to the patient's quality of life. A test (a quantitative ventilation/perfusion scan, or quantitative V/Q scan) may be used before surgery to help determine how much of the lung can safely be removed.

The outcome of lung lobectomies also depends on the general health of the entire lung; emphysema and smoking would have a negative impact on the health of a patient's lung.

The liver

A lobectomy of the liver is also called a hepatic lobectomy. The liver plays a major role in digestion, in the transformation of food into energy, and in filtering and storing blood. It processes nutrients and drugs, produces bile, controls the level of glucose (sugar) in the blood, detoxifies blood, and regulates blood clotting. Unlike the brain and the lung, the liver may regrow, or regenerate, after part of the liver has been removed. In addition, since every part of the liver performs the same functions, the liver is the organ whose function is least likely to be severely affected by lobectomy, in the long term, because it regenerates. However, as the liver is central to the body's functions, removal of too much of the liver at once may result in coma or death.