Endobronchial ultrasound-guided biopsy of coin lesions

Evaluation of: Dooms CA, Verbeken EK, Becker HD, Demedts MG, Vansteenkiste JF: Endobronchial ultrasonography in bronchoscopic occult pulmonary lesions. J. Thorac. Oncol. 2, 121-124 (2007). Transbronchial biopsy (TBB) for solitary pulmonary nodules is usually performed under fluoroscopic guidance, but the diagnostic yield depends on lesion size and varies widely. An alternative guidance technique, endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), also allows for the visualization of pulmonary nodules. Dooms and colleagues evaluated the yield of EBUS-guided TBB in a series of consecutive patients with a bronchoscopic-occult pulmonary lesion. The mean diameter of the lesions was 36.6 mm. A histologic diagnosis upon TBB was obtained in 84% of patients. However, the diagnostic yield was very poor for lesions less than 20 mm in diameter. The group concluded that EBUS-guided TBB is effective for localizing and diagnosing bronchoscopic-occult pulmonary masses.