Transbronchial biopsy without fluoroscopy. A seven-year perspective.

The use of fluoroscopic guidance for transbronchial biopsy (TBB) during flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopic examination has been controversial. Patient records and bronchoscopy reports for 112 transbronchial biopsies performed with fluoroscopy over a seven-year period were reviewed and compared with those of 135 transbronchial biopsies performed without fluoroscopy over the same interval. Complication rates with regard to pneumothorax, fever, and hemorrhage were compared, as were yield data for neoplasm, sarcoidosis, and other miscellaneous pulmonary diagnoses. Complication rates were low in both groups and not statistically different; yield data were likewise comparable, particularly in diffuse neoplasm and sarcoidosis. This report suggests that TBB without fluoroscopy (in the basilar segments) is safe and that diagnostic yield, particularly in sarcoidosis and diffuse neoplasm, is good.