Background/aim: Diagnosis of interstitial lung diseases requires a multidisciplinary approach, and a gold standard for histological diagnosis is open lung biopsy. Transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) and in recent years an alternative method, cryobiopsy (TBLC), are used for the diagnosis of parenchymal lung lesions. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of concomitant conventional TBLB and TBLC.Materials and methods: A total of 82 patients who underwent TBLC for diagnosis of diffuse parenchymal lung diseases at Dr. Suat Seren Chest Diseases and Surgery Training and Research Hospital between 2015 and 2018 were screened retrospectively and included in the study. Of the patients, 53.7% (n: 44) were male, and 46.4% (n:38) of them were female. The mean age was 58.37 (±9.33) years. First TBLB and then TBLC were performed to all patients in the same session and their diagnostic performances were compared.Results: Although both procedures were done in the same session, 45 patients (54.9%) were diagnosed with TBLB and 75 patients (91.5%) were diagnosed with TBLC (P ˂ 0.001). Hemorrhage was observed in 39 patients (47.6%), but only one had a massive hemorrhage. Pneumothorax was observed in 6 patients (7.3%) and none of them required tube drainage.Conclusion: Transbronchial lung cryobiopsy is a promising technique for the diagnosis of parenchymal lung diseases compared to transbronchial lung biopsy.
And introduction: Diagnosing of interstitial lung disease (ILD) is difficult and expensive. The standard diagnostical approaches to ILD are bronchoalveolar lavage, transbronchial lung biopsy, transbronchial lung cryobi-opsy (TBLC) and surgical lung biopsy (SLB). SLB is gold standard for the confident diagnosis of ILD but because of the poor performance of the patients it's use is limited. We conducted a retrospective study to point out that TBLC plays an important role in diagnosis of ILD and has fewer complications and lower cost than awake video-assisted thoracic surgery (AVATS). Material and metbods: 132 patients who underwent TBLC and AVATS with a pre-diag-nosis of ILD in our hospital between 2015 and 2020 were evaluated retrospectively. Diagnosis rates, complications and costs were recorded. Results: There were no non-diagnostic materials in 44 patients in AVATS arm. Prolonged air leak was observed in 11(25.0%) of the patients, and six of them (13.6%) were discharged with Heimlich Valve (HV). Median length of stay in the hospital was 8 days, while average patient cost was $515.9 (415.2-2662.9) in the AVATS arm. Non-diagnostic material was obtained from 10 (11.3%) of 88 patients in TBLC arm. Six (6.8%) of them had pneumothorax, only one of them required a chest tube. No patient was discharged with HV (p=0.001). Median cost for each patient with a median hospital stay of 2.0 (1.0-21.0) (p<0.001) days was $171.9 (80.8-1493.3) (p<0.001). Discussion: Although TBLC is behind AVATS in terms of diagnostic accuracy, it may be an alternative diagnostic tool in the diagnosis of interstitial lung disease due to its acceptable safety profile and cost-effectiveness.
1 June 2022 in Molecular Imaging and Radionuclide Therapy
Objectives: This study makes a retrospective examination of exploring the prognostic value of (18)fluorine-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) related metabolic-volumetric variables, nutritional status, and immune and inflammatory markers on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in advanced adenocarcinoma patients with positive epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations undergoing EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. Methods: A retrospective examination was made of patients diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma who underwent F-18-FDG PET/CT imaging for staging maximum four weeks before starting treatment, between January 2015 and July 2020. Included in the study were 68 patients identified histopathologically to have locally advanced/metastatic EGFR mutation-positive adenocarcinoma, and who underwent EGFR TKI therapy. The laboratory data of the patients, obtained 15 days before imaging performed for PET/CT staging, were evaluated. Results: Metabolic tumor volume, modified Glasgow prognostic score and locally advanced disease were identified as independent prognostic parameters for PFS (p= 0.004, p=0.029, p=0.016, respectively). A univariate Cox regression analysis revealed albumin/alkaline phosphatase and tumor size to be significant parameters for prognosis (p=0.033, p=0.043, respectively). A multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that none of the parameters were predictive or OS. Conclusion: The parameters of F-18-FIDG PET/CT, especially the volumetric parameters, were found to be strong prognostic factors with statistical significance for predicting PFS. We believe that these parameters are important prognostic markers that should be evaluated together in the management and follow-up of patients with EGFR mutation-positive adenocarcinoma.
5 April 2022 in Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology