Ultrasound-Guided Cervical Lymph Node Sampling Performed by Respiratory Physicians.

Area of Science:

• Pulmonology
• Medical Imaging
• Interventional Procedures

Background:

• Cervical lymphadenopathy is a common finding in respiratory diseases.
• Neck ultrasound (NUS) is an emerging skill for respiratory physicians.
• Ultrasound has significantly advanced respiratory investigations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of neck ultrasound (NUS) performed by respiratory physicians.
• To assess NUS in the workup of patients with mediastinal lymphadenopathy.

Main Methods:

• Single-centre retrospective cohort study.
• Inclusion of patients undergoing ultrasound-guided cervical lymph node sampling.
• Comparison of diagnostic yield and specimen adequacy between respiratory physicians and radiologists.

Main Results:

• 106 NUS-guided lymph node samplings by respiratory physicians vs. 35 by radiologists over 5 years.
• Comparable specimen adequacy: 91.5% for respiratory physicians vs. 82.9% for radiologists (p=0.2).
• Diagnosis achieved in 84% of cases performed by respiratory physicians; 45.3% of cases were solely reliant on this procedure for tissue acquisition.

Conclusions:

• Neck ultrasound (NUS) and sampling by respiratory physicians are feasible and effective.
• Adequacy rates are comparable to those performed by radiologists.
• NUS can decrease the need for more invasive procedures in select patients, necessitating training guidelines.