Bronchial Fistula and Pneumomediastinum after EBUS-TBNA Following Mediastinoscopy

Severe Pneumomediastinum Complicating EBUS-TBNA

To the Editor: Pneumomediastinum infrequently complicates diagnostic bronchoscopy. Increased airway or alveolar pressure results in air leaks to the mediastinum through existing or induced defects. Excessive cough, recurrent episodes of increased abdominal pressure, vomiting, or sneezing can all induce spontaneous pneumomediastinum. Less commonly it has been documented with lung or neck infecti...

The complete ''medical'' mediastinoscopy (EUS-FNA + EBUS-TBNA).

Diagnosis of indeterminate mediastinal masses and staging of lung cancer poses a significant challenge. Options for tissue diagnoses include computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous biopsy, transbronchial fine-needle aspiration, mediastinoscopy/mediastinotomy or thoracoscopy, but these investigations have limitations in terms of tissue yield, safety profile and cost. Trans-esophageal endosc...

EBUS-TBNA with ROSE-tinted spectacles?

EBUS-TBNA: A Decade of Progress

Roberto F Casal1*, Donald R Lazarus2, Georgie A Eapen1 and Kazuhiro Yasufuku3 1Department of Pulmonary Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA 2Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA 3Division of Thoracic Surgery, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada *Corr...

The learning curve for EBUS-TBNA.

We read with interest the paper by Kemp and colleagues 1 which utilises cumulative sum (CUSUM) to analyse the learning curves associated with endobronchial ultra-sound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA). The retrospective study from five centres demonstrated that variable learning periods are required to attain proficiency in the procedure, and a pooled sensitivity of 67.4% was...