Quality standards for cryobiopsy

Abstract

Transbronchial cryobiopsy (TBLC) is a technique on the rise in the diagnostic workup of diffuse interstitial lung diseases (DPLD), recently being included in the European Respiratory Society Guidelines as an acceptable alternative to surgical lung biopsy (SLB), which had thus far been considered the gold standard. In this article, we review what is known to optimize the procedure, including patient selection, contraindications, possible complications and transbronchial cryobiopsy technique.

Keywords

• Bronchoscopy. Cryobiopsy. Interstitial lung disease. Transbronchial cryobiopsy.