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Bronchoscopic diagnosis of malignancy in the lower airway. A cytologic review
M F Lachman1, K Schofield, K Cellura
1Department of Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8070, USA.
Objectives:
To determine the significance of a "suspicious" cytology report, to evaluate diagnostic accuracy for these specimens in the laboratory and to review the correlation of tumor subclassification in cytology versus histology.
Study Design:
Retrospective review and comparison of 269 bronchoscopic cytology and histology specimens from a six-year period, 1984-1990. The relative and combined sensitivities of the sampling methods were studied.
Results:
There were 17 suspicious cytologic diagnoses during this period. One of 17 was a false suspicious diagnosis, representing 0.03% of all reports on submitted samples. There were no false positive cytologic diagnoses. The majority (94%) of patients with a suspicious cytologic report had a final diagnosis of malignancy. Carcinoma was diagnosed in 244 of the 269 patients.
Conclusion:
Combined bronchoscopic cytology and biopsy was more sensitive (92%) than biopsy alone (82%) in making the initial diagnosis.