Mobile 3-dimensional (3D) C-arm system-assisted transbronchial biopsy and ablation for ground-glass opacity pulmonary nodules: a case report

Identification of pulmonary ground-glass opacity (GGO) lesions during bronchoscopic procedures remains challenging, as GGOs cannot be directly visualized under 2-dimensional (2D) fluoroscopy and are often difficult to detect by radial endobronchial ultrasound. Recently, a mobile 2D/3D C-arm fluoroscopy system was developed that provides both 2D fluoroscopy and mobile 3D imaging to assess and confirm the location of the lesions and ancillary bronchoscopic tools. However, previous studies focused mainly on experience of utilizing mobile 3D C-arm system for transbronchial biopsy of solid pulmonary nodules. Here, we evaluated the feasibility of mobile 3D imaging assisted transbronchial biopsy with and without ablation of two patients with GGO nodules. The first patient underwent biopsy only, and the second patient underwent biopsy in the right upper lobe lung nodule and ablation of a left upper lobe lung nodule in one session. Procedures in both patients were successfully performed, and no significant complications have been observed intra- or post-procedurally. Our case study highlights the potential value of the mobile 3D imaging system in accurate identification of the target lung lesion, confirmation of bronchoscopic tools within the lesion, and assessment of the target lesion and surrounding tissue following bronchoscopic ablation procedure. Furthermore, a “one-stop shop” bronchoscopy workflow combining both biopsy and ablation for one or more lung lesions in one session could be made possible by utilizing a hybrid mobile 2D/3D C-arm system in the bronchoscopy suite.