Transcarinal mediastinal needle biopsy as a supplement to bronchoscopic evaluation of neoplastic lung diseases

A screening method for detecting the dissemination of malignant tumours to the bifurcal lymph nodes is described. The procedure was performed in 300 patients. Malignancies were found in 255 cases, 216 of which were bronchogenic cancers. The transcarinal mediastinal needle biopsy (TMNB) was positive in 25% of all cases with malignant diseases, but in patients with anaplastic tumours a positive TMNB was found in 40%. No complications occurred, the method could be applied to out-patients, and if positive, mediastinoscopy could be avoided.