Observational cross-sectional study of 5279 bronchoscopy results for the practical effectiveness of various biopsy techniques in the diagnosis of lung diseases with particular emphasis on lung cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Bronchoscopy is the main method in the diagnosis of various lung diseases. Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is the most modern bronchoscopic technique useful in diagnosis and staging of lung cancer (LC).

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the yield of bronchoscopy in patients with suspected various respiratory diseases including LC. In particular, we examined the efficiency of different biopsy techniques in the diagnosis of LC in correlation with its localisation and pathomorphological type.

Patients and methods: The results of pathomorphological examinations from 5279 bronchoscopies performed in 2016-2018 were analysed. The material was collected with EBUS-TBNA, endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) and endobronchial forceps biopsy. Clinical and demographic factors were analysed using the Fisher χ² test.

Results: 5279 patients were diagnosed due to various respiratory symptoms. LC was confirmed in 36.42% of patients. 40.81% of patients had no definitive pathomorphological diagnosis. Among patients with LC, the most frequent diagnosis was non-small cell LC: squamous cell lung cancer (SCC)-32.07% and adenocarcinoma (AC)-30.61%, then small cell LC-25.83% and not otherwise specified non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC-NOS)-11.49%. Diagnosis of SCC was obtained significantly more often (χ²=43.143, p<0.000001) by forceps biopsy (41.09%) than by EBUS-TBNA/EUS-FNA (26.62%). On the contrary, diagnosis of AC or NSCLC-NOS was significantly more often (χ²=20.394, p<0.000007, and χ²=3.902, p<0.05, respectively) observed in EBUS-TBNA/EUS-FNA (34.31% and 12.6%) than in endobronchial biopsies (24.52% and 9.64%).

Conclusions: The use of bronchoscopy in the diagnosis of various lung diseases is vital but also has many limitations. Effectiveness of EBUS-TBNA and endobronchial forceps biopsy in the diagnosis of lung cancer is strongly affected by tumour localisation and type of cancer.

Keywords: bronchoscopy; respiratory medicine (see thoracic medicine); respiratory tract tumours.