Original ArticleLung biopsy for chronic pulmonary disease in children
Section snippets
Methods
All children under sixteen years of age undergoing lung biopsy in our institution between 1998 and 2011 were identified using the in-house audit system and their case notes reviewed retrospectively. Data were collected on patient demographics, pre- and post-biopsy diagnosis and treatment, histological findings, operative complications and outcome.
All patients were under the care of a pediatric respiratory physician and had typically undergone a thorough medical diagnostic work-up. Only in cases
Results
Thirty-three patients underwent lung biopsy in the period studied including 21 females and 12 males. The median age was 5 years 5 months, (range 2 months to 16 years). All patients had a pre-operative CT scan of their thorax and all but three had undergone bronchoscopy and bronch-alvelolar lavage (BAL).
In five cases, a thoracoscopic approach was attempted but this was abandoned in four owing to an inability to safely deflate the lung and create a working space in the thorax. Ultimately, 32 children
Discussion
We present the thirteen-year experience of lung biopsy in a tertiary paediatric surgical centre. This represents one of the largest published series of this procedure in this age group. The findings of five similar studies are summarised in Table 3.
The complication rate of 24% and mortality rate of 12% in our series are comparable with others’ findings. However, when comparing retrospective studies it is hard to be sure definitions of complications and mortality are directly comparable. We have
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