Diagnostic value of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration for lung cancer and mediastinal lesions

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) in lung carcinoma and mediastinal lesions. Methods: From Jan., 2015 to Dec., 2015, 368 patients with hilar and/or mediastinal lymphadenopathy or mass outside the airways by CT scan or PET/CT in Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University were enrolled and recieved EBUS-TBNA examination.All of their clinical data were collected. Results: Retrospective analysis was performed in the 368 patients.In the 252 patients diagnosed as malignancy, 232 patients were diagnosed by EBUS-TBNA, while the other 116 patients were diagnosed as benign disease.The diagnostic concordance rate was 92.9%.A total of 387 lymph nodes and 56 masses outside the airways were found among the 368 patients received EBUS-TBNA procedure.The sensitivity and specificity of EBUS-TBNA were 92.1% and 100%, respectively. Conclusions: EBUS-TBNA is an effective and safe method with high specificity and sensitivity in diagnosis of unknown hilar and/or mediastinal lymphadenopathy, mediastinal mass as well as lymph node staging in lung cancer patients.