[Transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) and scalene node biopsy in sarcoidosis]

The efficacy of transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) for the diagnosis of sarcoidosis was compared to that of scalene node biopsy (SNB). We performed both TBLB and SNB or in 336 consecutive patients with clinical features of sarcoidosis. In 270 out of 336 patients epithelioid cell granuloma was found. The frequency of granuloma in specimens obtained by TBLB was higher than that of SNB at any radiographic stage. In stage 0 and stage I diseases however, the frequency of epithelioid cell granuloma in the specimens was increased by examining both of TBLB and SNB. We concluded that SNB was useful in consecutive patients with sarcoidosis in whom the epithelioid cell granuloma could not be confirmed by TBLB.