Cytology on transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA): not only for lung cancer

Transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) is a bronchoscopic technique allowing the sampling of cytological/histological material from mediastinal lymph nodes. TBNA is routinely used only in few centers for the staging of lung cancer, and even less frequently for the diagnosis of mediastinal metastases from extrapulmonary tumors. We illustrate 5 cases of mediastinal metastases from extrapulmonary tumors observed at our center in order to emphasize the usefulness of cytology and TBNA in the diagnosis of these pathologies. The 5 cases illustrated were: seminoma, uterine cervical carcinoma, pleural mesothelioma, pancreatic carcinoma, pericardial mesothelioma. In these 5 cases, albeit not of lung cancer, the cytology on TBNA allowed the rapid formulation of the correct diagnosis; its main advantage is that it can be performed during a simple fiberbronchoscopy under local anesthesia with less risk and at a lower cost than a computed tomography-guided needle biopsy or mediastinoscopy.