[Transbronchial needle aspiration of hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes]

Besides clarifying the etiology of unidentified lymphadenomegaly, puncturing hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes by a flexible bronchoscopic needle is an aid in diagnosing and staging broncho- genic cancer or other metastatic cancers.

Our study had the principal objective to evaluate the positivity of transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA).

We evaluated retrospectively the effectiveness of all TBNA done in 74 consecutive patients. Forty-nine patients were male and the median age was 59. We used Wang-needles, 21-gauge (Bard, USA), and the same technique described for different authors. Of the 74 patients evaluated, 11(15%) showed mediastinal mass and 65 (85%) hilar mass. We observed 76 endoscopic abnormalities.

According to the classification of the specimens, we had 32/74 (43%) unsatisfactory specimens, 34/74 (46%) satisfactory and diagnostic specimens, and 8/74(11%) satisfactory and non-diagnostic specimens. Thirty four (46%) of the examinations were found to be positive out of the total amount of specimens. Of the positive results, 30/34 specimens (88%) contained malignant disease. Small-cell carcinoma was the most frequent finding, with 10/34 cases (29%); squamous cell carcinoma 7/34 (21%); adenocarcinoma 7/34 (21%), non- -small cell carcinoma 6/34 (17%); sarcoidosis 2/34 (6%) and tuberculosis 2/34 (6%).

Our study indicated that this method is safe, easy to per- form, with a minimum of complications and useful for the diagnosis and staging of pulmonary neoplasms.