Superior Sulcus Tumour with some Emphasis on the Anterior Approach

Superior sulcus tumours are rarely encountered in clinical practice, representing < 5% of all bronchogenic carcinomas [1, 2]. In 1932, Pancoast [3] published his classic article in which he reported four patients who had a similar presentation including pain in the shoulder and arm, weakness and wasting of the muscles of the hand, and ipsilateral Horner syndrome together with a lesion situated at the apex of the lung. Pancoast [3] rejected the pulmonary origin of the tumour that was recognised by Tobias [4], who described the same clinical syndrome in four other patients.