Abstract
Transbronchial lung cryobiopsy (TLCB) is an endoscopic procedure that has proven diagnostic value for interstitial lung disease and there are published guidelines for its use. Although cryobiopsy samples have been shown to provide superior tissue samples when compared to classical forceps there remains are limited data investigating its use in suspected lung cancer.
Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic yield and safety of TLCB in patients with highly suspicious of lung cancer.
Methods: All patients who underwent a TLCB under general anesthesia for suspected lung cancer from 2015-2019 were recorded and retrospectively analyzed.
Results: 1024 patients were underwent a TLCB procedure (259 male, mean age 58 y.). The overall diagnostic yield was 93%. 884 cases were malignant and 140 had non-malignant pathology with radiographic follow-up. The pneumothorax rate was 6.6 %. The rate of moderate to severe bleeding was 6.7 %. The complication rate was independent of the use of aspirin, probe size (1.9m m or 2.4mm) or lesion localization.
Conclusions: TLCB use in suspected lung cancer cases resulted in high diagnostic yields with an acceptable complication profile. A prospective multicenter international randomized controlled trial is scheduled to accrue stating in 2020.
Footnotes
Cite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2020; 56: Suppl. 64, 3779.
This abstract was presented at the 2020 ERS International Congress, in session “Respiratory viruses in the "pre COVID-19" era”.
This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).
- Copyright ©the authors 2020