in multiple stages by William Macewen on a patient with tuberculosis and emphysema 1912: first anatomical dissection lobectomy by Hugh Morriston Davies 1918: first successful lobectomy, by Harold Brunn 1931: first successful pneumonectomy in two stages by Rudolph Nissen on a patient with crush injury to the thorax 1933: first successful single-stage total pneumonectomy by Graham and Singer 1939: first segmentectomy, by Churchill and Belsey Is it possible to live with one Lung after a Pneumonectomy? Living a one-lunged life may sound scary but it is totally compatible with life. Although it is not possible for the lung to re-grow like the liver but the body does compensate by slow and gradual expansion of the other remaining lung towards the void. Post pneumonectomy patients in due time reach about 70-80 percent of their pre surgery lung function. The heart also drifts towards the post pneumonectomy space. A fluid fills the residual space in the chest cavity which slowly gelatinizes into a proteinaceous material and the chest scaffold collapses slightly. This is how nature helps to obliterate the “empty space” left behind by removal of a lung. People have gone back to living near normal life including running marathons after a pneumonectomy provided adequate cardio-pulmonary conditioning has happened. Complications Most common complications after a pneumonectomy are: Cardiac arrhythmias Pulmonary complications like pneumonia, atelectasis, respiratory failure bronchopleural fistula Injury to the diaphragm, liver, spleen, or a major vessel Postpneumonectomy pulmonary edema Postpneumonectomy cardiac herniation See also Medical ventilator List of surgeries by type References External links Lung cancer Pulmonary thoracic surgery Surgical oncology Surgical removal procedures Thoracic surgical procedures