Pope Leo XIV had surgery Tuesday to remove a lung nodule. The Vatican said that the procedure was completed “successfully” and that Leo, 71, had returned to his room at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.
Further information will be released later, the Vatican said.
Leo had the surgery after a “small, localized nodule” was found in his lung during recent routine medical tests.
A lung nodule is a small mass of tissue detected through X-ray or CT scan screening. Most nodules are benign. According to the American Cancer Society, nodules can be caused by a number of factors, including irritants such as air pollution and diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. They can also be caused by scar tissue from previous infections.
Leo said Sunday the nodule was detected “at a very early stage.”
There are several approaches to surgery, depending on the size and location of the nodule and whether doctors suspect cancer, said Dr. Ankit Bharat, the chief of thoracic surgery at Northwestern Medicine.
“When doctors decide to proceed directly to surgery rather than first obtaining a biopsy, it can suggest a higher level of concern on the lung scan,” Bharat said.
The Vatican hasn’t said yet what surgeons found during the procedure. But Leo could experience changes in his breathing, depending on how much lung tissue was removed. If surgeons needed to remove an entire lobe, his lung capacity could decrease by as much as 25%, Bharat said. Smaller procedures, such as a wedge or a segmental resection, would be likely to have a much smaller impact on his long-term lung function.
What to know about Pope Leo’s surgery to remove a lung nodule
Lung cancer is more treatable if it is caught early. The deadly cancer is most often caused by cigarette smoking, but about 20% of lung cancer cases are diagnosed in people who have never smoked or used tobacco, according to the American Cancer Society.
However, finding a nodule on a scan doesn’t confirm a cancer diagnosis, Bharat said, and the surgery will reveal more information as doctors are able to put the nodule under a microscope.
Advances in the procedures mean they are generally less invasive, and some patients begin walking within a day or two.
If the nodule is larger and more lung tissue is removed, meaning the surgery is more extensive, it may be three to four weeks before a patient is fully recovered.
“Given the pope’s age, his recovery could be slower than that of a younger, otherwise healthy patient,” Bharat said.
Leo has a major trip scheduled to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in November. It’s possible he could make the trip, doctors suggest, if the surgery was minimally invasive and there are no surprise findings. If the nodule is cancerous, doctors will determine whether he can be treated while traveling or the trip may need to be postponed.
