Thirty-Day Mortality Underestimates the Risk of Early Death After Major Resections for Thoracic Malignancies

Among patients who have undergone operations for thoracic malignancies, mortality attributable to the operation occurs beyond the first 30 postsurgical days as well as after hospital discharge. Because cancer operations constitute a large portion of general thoracic surgery, we recommend national databases consider the inclusion of 90-day mortality in their data collection.