Das Bronchuscarcinom

On the occasion of our esteemed teacher's 70th birthday, we are pleased to report on a part of his life's work and wish to express our gratitude for all that we have learned during our many years of work at his clinic. Even during his time as an assistant at the clinic, Denk dedicated his interest particularly to thoracic surgery, which he has successfully advanced in Austria since then. Numerous students he has trained over his decades-long career as a clinical teacher are now in leading positions as thoracic surgeons. For years, Denk focused especially on the challenges of lung resection and was able to successfully perform the first single-stage lobectomy for bronchiectasis as early as 1938. The significantly worsened working conditions during the subsequent war years largely hindered progress in the field of lung resections, allowing only a few such operations to be performed. When the major successes of the West in thoracic surgery became known after the war, it was Denk who, through the full engagement of his personality, caught up with this lead. Therefore, it is not surprising that in recent years, a very large number of thoracic surgical cases have concentrated at his clinic. As early as the beginning of 1947, Denk was able to perform the first successful pneumonectomy for bronchial carcinoma, even with inadequate technical resources. In the following years, the influx of patients with bronchial carcinoma continued to increase, so that we currently have more than 1,200 such cases.