Cytology on transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA): not only for lung cancer.
Transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) is a bronchoscopic technique allowing the sampling of cytological/histological material from mediastinal lymph nodes. TBNA is routinely used only in few centers for the staging of lung cancer, and even less frequently for the diagnosis of mediastinal metastases from extrapulmonary tumors. We illustrate 5 cases of mediastinal metastases from extrapulmonary tumors observed at our center in order to emphasize the usefulness of cytology and TBNA in the diagnosis of these pathologies. The 5 cases illustrated were: seminoma, uterine cervical carcinoma, pleural mesothelioma, pancreatic carcinoma, pericardial mesothelioma. In these 5 cases, albeit not of lung cancer, the cytology on TBNA allowed the rapid formulation of the correct diagnosis; its main advantage is that it can be performed during a simple fiberbronchoscopy under local anesthesia with less risk and at a lower cost than a computed tomography-guided needle biopsy or mediastinoscopy.
UOC Pneumologia, Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Molecolare Sapienza Universita di Roma, Azienda Ospedaliera Sant’Andrea Roma, Italy. pierdo.bruno@tiscali.it
Pierdonato
P
Bruno
Lara
L
Pisani
Alberto
A
Ricci
Carlo
C
Falasca
Enrico
E
Giarnieri
Salvatore
S
Mariotta
Maria Rosaria
MR
Giovagnoli
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D003581:Cytodiagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D018239:Seminoma / Q000473:pathology*; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*