Respirology : official journal of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology
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Integrated PET and CT (PET/CT) is accurate in detecting hilar-mediastinal metastases. However, it has a moderate positive predictive value, necessitating pathological verification, especially in situations in which the result would make a difference to treatment. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) for hilar-mediastinal lesions suspicious on PET/CT. ⋯ PET/CT can identify small malignant lymph nodes that can then be successfully biopsied by TBNA with on-site cytopathology.
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Several studies of real-time endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) have reported a sensitivity of approximately 90% in the diagnosis of mediastinal and hilar malignancies. However, few studies have addressed its role in the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. The aim of the present study was to assess the utility of EBUS-TBNA in confirming a pathological diagnosis of sarcoidosis. ⋯ EBUS-TBNA is less invasive and acceptably sensitive as a method for obtaining pathological confirmation of sarcoidosis.