Video-assisted medical thoracoscopic (VAMT) lung biopsy in the diagnosis of diffuse pulmonary infiltrates

Abstract

Introduction: Since cases presenting with diffuse pulmonary infiltrates represent a big sector in pulmonary practice and their diagnosis may be hard passing in many steps and may need a tissue evidence for sure diagnosis by lung sampling that usually obtained by transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) or surgery either open or by VATS (video assisted thoracoscopic surgery), but however TBLB usually offer small sized unrepresentable biopsies and surgical options are much more invasive. We investigated lung sampling by standard medical thoracoscopy as a tool for obtaining sizable biopsies and being less invasive than surgical options with a primary research question, is it safe and effective? Methods: All cases in this study were subjected to thoracoscopic lung biopsy only after failed diagnosis by less invasive diagnostic facility (with data obtained from clinical examination,full history, laboratory diagnosis, spirometry, Bronchoalveolar lavage and transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB). Results: (18) patients included in this study. Medical thoracoscopy had diagnosed all the cases with a diagnostic yield of 100%. No major complications. Conclusion: we concluded that lung sampling can be performed safely by VAMT (video assisted medical thoracoscopy) with a good diagnostic yield in cases of diffuse lung infiltrates of unknown origin and represent an excellent alternative for VATS and open biopsy.

Keywords

• Medical thoracoscopy
• Bilateral pulmonary infiltrate
• Lung biopsy