title: Usefulness of endobronchial ultrasound in patients with previously treated thoracic malignancy.
abstract: Diagnosis of mediastinal/hilar lymph nodes and tumours is often challenging for patients with previously treated thoracic malignancy, especially when they have a history of thoracotomy. Endobronchial ultrasound with transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has been proposed as a safe, less-invasive modality for such patients. We retrospectively evaluated the role of EBUS-TBNA in the assessment of newly developed mediastinal/hilar abnormalities in patients with previously treated thoracic malignancy. Of 79 patients who underwent EBUS-TBNA between July 2009 and July 2011, 14 patients (18%) had a history of treatment for thoracic malignancy. In all patients, malignancy was confirmed again for the newly developed mediastinal/hilar abnormalities and three of them (21%) presented with a different pathology from the previous malignancy. Out of 14 patients, 12 had a history of thoracotomy and EBUS-TBNA was a useful, less-invasive diagnostic method particularly for these patients. Out of 14 patients, 11 (79%) had a history of lung cancer and 10 of them (91%) had received surgical resection. In conclusion, we confirmed that EBUS-TBNA obtained the pathological diagnosis in a less-invasive manner in all cases. Despite the small number of cases, our results can reveal the usefulness of EBUS-TBNA particularly in patients with previously treated thoracic malignancy.
authors: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine,  Kyoto University, Kyoto,  Japan.
authors: Fengshi
authors: F
authors: Chen
authors: Ryo
authors: R
authors: Miyahara
authors: Toshihiko
authors: T
authors: Sato
authors: Makoto
authors: M
authors: Sonobe
authors: Hiroaki
authors: H
authors: Sakai
authors: Toru
authors: T
authors: Bando
authors: Hiroshi
authors: H
authors: Date
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019160:Endosonography / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013899:Thoracic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*