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Glite Dictionary
pneumonectomy

pneumonectomy

1 8.7
An operation to remove one lung to treat lung illness like cancer
  • noun
  • /njuːˈmɒnɛk.tə.mi/
  • Specialized
: neumonectomía
  • Following a severe infection, the patient underwent a pneumonectomy to ensure the disease would not spread.

Examples

  • After the diagnosis of lung cancer, the doctor recommended a pneumonectomy to remove the affected lung.

  • Since bronchoscopy indicated a tumor infiltration close to the right main bronchus, a pneumonectomy of the right lung was planned.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Therefore, a pneumonectomy of the right lung was carried out with a transpericardial amputation of the pulmonary artery.

    Academic text (2007)

  • The surgeon explained that a pneumonectomy might be necessary if the tumor continued to grow.

How Extensive

pneumonectomy
  • Specialized
1 8.7
lobectomy
  • Specialized
2 8.4

Surface Forms

pneumonectomy singular
pneumonectomies plural

Morphology

pneumonectomy = pneumon (opaque) = pneumon + ectomy

This is a specialized medical term built from a classical form meaning 'lung' plus '-ectomy' 'surgical removal', but the connection is not readily inferable for an average B1 learner.

Etymology

The word pneumonectomy comes from two parts: pneumon- meaning 'lung', like in pneumonia, and -ectomy meaning 'cutting out', like in appendectomy. So a pneumonectomy is an operation to cut out a lung.