[The contribution of widely used devices in the diagnosis of peripheral pulmonary lesions in patients presenting with respiratory distress].
OBJECTIVE
We retrospectively reviewed the contribution of widely used devices such as the standard fiberoptic bronchoscope in the diagnosis of peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs) in patients who presented with respiratory distress.


METHODS
We performed bronchoscopy for 106 PPLs in January-December 2007, and diagnosed access to the lesions to be difficult.


METHODS
For these lesions, we applied Sasada transbronchial angled forceps (STAF), transbronchial needle aspiration cytology (TBAC), thin bronchoscopy, and ultra-thin bronchoscopy, which are widely used devices, after routinely performing biopsy with standard forceps and saved each specimen separately, and finally compared the pathological diagnosis.


RESULTS
The diagnostic yield obtained with specimens using standard forceps was 36.8%; however, the overall diagnosis was improved to 70.8% after we used these other devices and methods. We achieved diagnosis with STAF (10 lesions), followed by thin bronchoscopy (5 lesions), and ultra-thin bronchoscopy (14 lesions). No diagnosis was made by TBAC.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that these widely employed devices can contribute to improvements in the diagnosis of cases of respiratory distress in which arrival to the lesions is difficult.
Tamiya
Motohiro
M
Department of Thoracic Malignancy, Osaka Prefectural Hospital Organization, Osaka Prefectual Medical Center for Respiratory and Allergic Diseases.
Sasada
Shinji
S
Uehara
Nobuko
N
Okamoto
Norio
N
Kobayashi
Masashi
M
Shimada
Kazuki
K
Komori
Chika
C
Kuhara
Hanako
H
Honda
Hidehiro
H
Sakatani
Kazuyo
K
Minami
Toshiyuki
T
Morishita
Naoko
N
Suzuki
Hidekazu
H
Hirashima
Tomonori
T
Matsui
Kaoru
K
Kawahara
Kunimitu
K
Kawase
Ichiro
I
Kusunoki
Yoko
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020680:Bronchoscopes; D001999:Bronchoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012189:Retrospective Studies