BACKGROUND Computed tomography (CT) may be useful for increasing the diagnostic yield of transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB). However, only a few studies with small sample sizes have reported the diagnostic utility of CT-guided TBLB and the factors affecting the diagnostic accuracy of CT-guided TBLB are not well known. We evaluated the diagnostic yield of CT-guided TBLB and associated factors. ...

BACKGROUND Flexible bronchoscopy is a procedure commonly performed for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic yield and the safety of routine bronchoscopy techniques including transbronchial needle aspiration and transbronchial biopsy at a university hospital in Switzerland. METHODS 616 consecutive bronchoscopies performed at the Pulmonary Medi...

BACKGROUND Several guidelines recommend computed tomography scans for populations with high-risk for lung cancer. The number of individuals evaluated for peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPL) will probably increase, and with it non-surgical biopsies. Associating a guidance method with a target confirmation technique has been shown to achieve the highest diagnostic yield, but the utility of broncho...

INTRODUCTION The widespread use of computed tomography (CT) improves detection of pulmonary lesions, which are not only detected at an increased rate but also at a smaller size. CT-guided lung biopsies are now more frequently used than fluoroscopy-guided lung biopsies. The main aim of the present paper was to investigate the outcome and complications of the biopsies. METHODS We retrospectivel...

Thyroid Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) is a safe, effective means of assessment of thyroid cancer 1 with ultrasound guided FNA (UG-FNA) providing a more accurate and cost effective means of diagnosis of thyroid cancer than palpation guided FNA 2 . This report looked at the institutional experience of UG-FNA of the thyroid which were carried out over a 9 year period in the Adelaide, Meath and Nati...

BACKGROUND Physicians attempting to make a diagnosis arrive at specific hypotheses early in their encounter with patients. Further data are collected in the light of these early hypotheses. While this hypothetico-deductive model has been accepted as both a description of physicians' data gathering and a norm, little attention has been paid to the preceding stage of the consultation. HYPOTHESI...

BACKGROUND In our clinical set up transbonchial needle aspiration of lymph node and parenchymal lesions is an underutilized technique. This study was done to highlight the usefulness of this technique in the pulmonologists armamentarium. METHODS Thirty procedures were performed on patients with intrathoracic lymphadenopathy or parenchymal lung lesions in this study from October, 2006 to April...

BACKGROUND Push-type enteroscopy, a recent method for investigating the small intestine, is currently undergoing assessment. Its diagnostic yield varies in the studies reported to date. AIM To assess the diagnostic value of push-type enteroscopy according to indication. PATIENTS AND METHODS From January 1994 to September 1995, 152 consecutive patients (mean age 34 years) underwent push-type...

Surgical lung biopsy (SLB) is still considered the gold standard procedure to obtain histology in interstitial lung diseases (ILD), the final diagnosis being decided on the basis of multidisciplinary assessment. The availability of a histological pattern may be very important in reaching diagnosis, predicting outcome and responding to treatment. There has been an increasing interest on transbro...