Table 1 Basic clinical characteristics of the patients
Characteristics | Anterior of the pulmonary hilum route group (n = 20) | Posterior mediastinal route group (n = 20) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
Age (years) | 64.4 ± 4.8 | 61.7 ± 4.4 | 0.10 |
Gender | Â | Â | 0.72 |
 Male | 16 | 14 |  |
 Female | 4 | 6 |  |
Tumor location | Â | Â | 0.73 |
 Upper | 5 | 7 |  |
 Middle | 15 | 13 |  |
BMI (kg/m2) | 22.7 ± 2.6 | 22.3 ± 2.7 | 0.72 |
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy | Â | Â | 0.75 |
 Yes | 9 | 11 |  |
 No | 11 | 9 |  |
Depth of tumor invasion | Â | Â | 0.89 |
 T1 | 6 | 5 |  |
 T2 | 1 | 3 |  |
 T3 | 12 | 11 |  |
 T4 | 1 | 1 |  |
Lymph node metastasis | Â | Â | 0.47 |
 N0 | 11 | 10 |  |
 N1 | 5 | 8 |  |
 N2 | 4 | 2 |  |
TNM stage | Â | Â | 0.84 |
 I | 5 | 4 |  |
 II | 5 | 7 |  |
 III | 9 | 9 |  |
 IV | 1 | 0 |  |