Combined Endosonography Reduces Time to Diagnose Pulmonary Coccidioidomycosis

Coccidioidomycosis causes significant morbidity in endemic areas. In the absence of sensitive diagnostic serologic testing, clinicians have increasingly relied on lung and lymph node biopsies for diagnosis. Recently, endobronchial ultrasound guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has been shown to be an excellent sampling method for the diagnosis and staging of lung cancers, especially when combined with endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA). We present 13 consecutive cases where EBUS-TBNA and/or EUS-FNA of pulmonary lymph nodes were performed as part of the workup for pulmonary coccidioidomycosis. EBUS-TBNA+EUS-FNA led to diagnosis in all nine cases in which they were performed concurrently, and in the remaining 4 in which either was performed individually. BAL was performed in all cases with positive results in 5 (38%). The mean time to diagnose by EBUS/EUS (1.6 d) was significantly shorter than by bronchoalveolar lavage (6.3 d) (P=0.003). The findings indicate that combined EBUS-TBNA+EUS-FNA for lymph node biopsy facilitates early and accurate diagnosis of pulmonary coccidioidomycosis.