EBUS-guided cryobiopsy in the diagnosis of thoracic disorders
Venerino Poletti, Simone Petrarulo, Sara Piciucchi, Alessandra Dubini, Arianna Johanna De Grauw, Fabio Sultani, Sabrina Martinello, Hari K. Gonunguntla, Claudia Ravaglia
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) has emerged as a crucial tool for diagnosing intrathoracic disorders, particularly in the staging of lung cancer. However, its diagnostic capabilities in the context of benign and rare diseases remain a subject of debate. AIM: to investigate the diagnostic yield and safety of EBUS-transbronchial mediastinal cryobiopsy (EBUS-TMC) in comparison to EBUS-transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) for a broad spectrum of intrathoracic diseases. METHODS: a single-centre retrospective observational study conducted on 48 patients who underwent both EBUS-TBNA and endobronchial ultrasound-transbronchial mediastinal cryobiopsy (EBUS-TMC) in the same procedure between August 2021 and October 2023. RESULTS: The overall diagnostic yield of EBUS-TMC surpassed that of EBUS-TBNA (95.8% vs 54.1 %), notably excelling in the diagnosis of sarcoidosis (92.8% vs 78.5 %), rare mediastinal disorders (100% vs 0 %), hyperplastic lymphadenopathy (100% vs 0 %), and lymphoproliferative disease (100% vs 0 %). No significant differences were observed in the diagnosis of NSCLC and SCLC. Samples obtained through EBUS-TMC facilitated the acquisition of NGS and immunohistochemical analyses more readily. CONCLUSION: EBUS-TMC may contribute to the precise diagnosis and subtyping of mediastinal diseases, especially lymphomas and rare mediastinal tumors, thereby reducing the number of non-diagnostic procedures.