• Ritika Walia, Karan Madan, Anant Mohan, Deepali Jain, Vijay Hadda, Gopi C Khilnani, and Randeep Guleria.
• Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India.
• Lung India. 2014 Jul 1; 31 (3): 208-11.

BackgroundEndobronchial involvement is frequently absent in many patients with bronchogenic carcinoma. Malignant involvement may be confined to lymph nodes/peribronchial locations only or may be present along with endobronchial lesions. Transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) is a flexible bronchoscopic technique which can be employed to obtain tissue samples from mediastinal lymph nodes or peribronchial locations. Although a safe and cost effective bronchoscopic modality, it is frequently underutilized owing to concerns regarding its diagnostic utility and safety. Herein, we describe our experience over 1 year on the diagnostic utility of TBNA without rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) in patients with suspected diagnosis of lung cancer.Materials And MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed the cases in which conventional TBNA-without ROSE was performed for suspected lung cancer, between January 2012 and December 2012. Each lymph node station from which aspiration was performed was sampled thrice and smears were prepared on slides which were later examined by a cytopathologist.ResultsTwenty-six cases were retrieved in which conventional TBNA without ROSE for suspected lung cancer with mediastinal involvement was performed during the study period. Adequate lymph node sampling could be achieved in 57.7% cases. Conventional TBNA was diagnostic in 11 out of the 26 (42.3%) patients. The diagnostic yield improved to 73.3% in patients in whom an adequate lymph nodal sample could be obtained. TBNA was the sole diagnostic sample in six (54.5%) patients. Alternative diagnoses (sarcoidosis and tuberculosis) were obtained in two patients.ConclusionConventional TBNA without ROSE is a safe and efficacious flexible bronchoscopic procedure which should be performed routinely from bronchoscopically accessible locations in patients with a suspected diagnosis of lung cancer.

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