Tracheobronchial Amyloidosis and Confocal Endomicroscopy

Tracheobronchial amyloidosis is one of many causes of endobronchial stenosis and nodularity, the concrete diagnosis of which currently requires the finding of apple-green birefringence from endobronchial biopsies. Bronchoscopic probe-based confocal endomicroscopy (pCLE) is a novel optical biopsy technique which provides real-time images of the lattice structure of the bronchial basement memReceived: November 8, 2010 Accepted after revision: January 10, 2011 Published online: March 23, 2011 Richard C. Newton Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London St. Mary’s Hospital Campus 10th Floor QEQM Building, London W2 1NY (UK) Tel. +44 79 8000 5675, E-Mail r.newton @ imperial.ac.uk © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel 0025–7931/11/0822–0209$38.00/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/res Established Facts • Tracheobronchial amyloidosis is a rare disease creating circumferential bronchial nodularity and narrowing; it requires typical endobronchial biopsy findings for diagnosis. • Probe-based confocal endomicroscopy (pCLE) is a cellular resolution optical biopsy technique that may have a role in diagnosing endobronchial malignancy.