Fig. 3

Intraoperative photos and illustrations of the hilar structures and reconstructed pulmonary artery. a An intraoperative picture showing the hilar structure; this picture was captured from the head camera of the operator standing on right side of the patient. The outline of left bronchus and bronchial anastomosis are illustrated as dashed lines and dotted lines, respectively. Note that the left pulmonary artery was exposed inside the pericardium and tracked peripherally toward the left hilum. Only a part of the bronchus distal to the bronchial anastomosis was exposed. b An enlarged picture of a showing a foreign body (white arrowhead) that appeared to be embedded in the bronchial wall. c Removal of the foreign body revealed a bronchial fistula (a white arrow). d An illustration of left pulmonary artery reconstructed using vascular prosthesis. Ao aorta, LtPA left pulmonary artery, RtPA right pulmonary artery, Br bronchus, PN phrenic nerve, PC pericardial tissue, MPA main pulmonary artery