title: Transbronchial lung biopsy in sarcoidosis. An approach to determine the optimal number of biopsies.
abstract: In order to determine if the diagnostic yield of the transbronchial lung biopsy in sarcoidosis is dependent upon the number of biopsies, a study was designed to examine individual specimens from 6 biopsies in patients with Stage II sarcoidosis. It was found that the probability of obtaining a positive specimen per biopsy was 46%, and this percentage remained constant for each biopsy. The diagnostic yield followed a logarithmic curve, gradually increasing from 1 through 4 biopsies until about 90% of true positive diagnoses were obtained, then approaching a plateau with successive biopsies. We therefore recommend that 4 transbronchial lung biopsies are sufficient to diagnose stage II sarcoidosis in the majority of patients with diffuse lung disease.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000473:pathology; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*