Endobronchial ultrasound – one year of experience in clinical practice

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) is a recent minimally invasive, safe examination method for the mediastinum, with a good diagnostic precision. This method makes possible real time examination with transbronchial fine needle aspiration, diagnostic transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) and staging of non-small pulmonary tumors, as well as diagnosis of mediastinal and hilar adenopathies of various causes. METHODS: We present the experience of the Bronchoscopy Department of the Pulmonology Clinic of Cluj-Napoca with EBUS-TBNA as a tool for the diagnosis and staging of tumors in contact with the bronchial wall and mediastinal and hilar adenopathies of unknown etiology. During the period August 2014 – January 2016 we examined 152 patients with no direct or indirect signs of lung tumor in traditional bronchoscopy. Rapid on site evaluation (ROSE) was available for all patients. RESULTS: Our study is a retrospective study of 152 EBUS-TBNA examinations. The average age of our patients was 54.43 years and 64% came from urban and 36% from rural background. EBUS-TBNA brought the final histological confirmation (tumors, sarcoidosis, limphoma) in 82.8% of the cases. A tumor confirmation was obtained in 95% of the patients who were suspected of having tumor. For a better understanding of the importance of this method in the daily clinical practice we present a case of peripheral pulmonary neoplasm with mediastinal and hilar adenopathies, where the contribution of EBUS-TBNA to a rapid diagnosis was essential. CONCLUSION: By the introduction of this method in our country one year ago, we can diagnose patients with lung and mediastinal tumors, which cannot be diagnosed by traditional bronchoscopy. This brings a valuable contribution to the improvement of lung cancer staging and diagnostic.