title: Ultrathin bronchoscopy in the diagnosis of peripheral cavitary lung lesions.
abstract: Ultrathin (UT) bronchoscopy has emerged as a useful tool to diagnose peripheral solid lung lesions of a malignant nature. This technology is superior to standard bronchoscopic techniques, which have low yield in identifying small lesions, especially as they extend further out along the bronchial tree. UT bronchoscopy can prevent the need to pursue more invasive open lung strategies to diagnose suspicious lesions. In this report, we present 3 distinct clinical scenarios where UT bronchoscopy was successful in diagnosing benign peripheral cavitary lesions after standard techniques failed. The use of UT bronchoscopy in each case was instrumental in allowing rapid initiation of appropriate therapy without need for more invasive surgical biopsies in the setting of a benign condition.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. sbose7@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Sonali
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bose
authors.forename: Abhijeet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghatol
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eberlein
authors.forename: Rex C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Yung
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001999:Bronchoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D014890:Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055732:Pulmonary Aspergillosis / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult