Robotic Assisted Bronchoscopy with Endobronchial Ultrasound for the Evaluation of Multiple Pulmonary Nodules: A Multi-Center Registry
Christopher M Kapp, Momen M Wahidi, Jamie H Rowell, Sylvia S Yong, Benjamin J Seides, Sean B Smith, Bharat Balan, David Dibardino, Kevin Haas, Brian White, Jeremy J Kim, Irene Riestra Guiance, Rohan Bhargava, Natalia H Diaz, Alejandra Y Lee-Mateus, David Abia Trujillo, Gerard A Silvestri, Yupeng Liu, Courtney Pfister, Jeffrey ThiboutotAbstract
Introduction
Multiple pulmonary nodules (MPNs) are commonly encountered in patients at elevated risk for thoracic malignancy and represent a spectrum of disease states and stages. We evaluated the safety, and procedural outcomes of a combined robotic assisted bronchoscopy (RaB) and linear endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) approach to patients with MPNs during a single bronchoscopic procedure.
Methods
This multicenter observational registry included patients who underwent RaB for evaluation of MPNs. Data were prospectively collected from six centers between 2019 and 2025. Demographics, imaging characteristics, safety events, and procedural outcomes were analyzed and associated with final diagnosis.
Results
A total of 191 patients underwent RaB with biopsy of MPN during a single procedure; 167 patients also underwent linear EBUS lymph node sampling. The strict per nodule diagnostic yield was 71.5% overall (first nodule 70.7%, second 74.3%, third 71.4%). At least one malignant nodule was identified in 127 patients (66.8%), and 85 patients (44.5%) had two or more malignant nodules; 15 patients (17.6%) demonstrated heterogeneous histopathology between malignant nodules. Among patients with non–small cell lung cancer, adequate cellularity for next generation sequencing was achieved in 82.6% of nodules. Malignant lymph nodes were identified in 10.8% (18/167). No patients with two pure ground glass nodules (0/8) had malignant nodal involvement. Pneumothorax occurred in 7.3% of cases, with 2.1% requiring chest tube placement; unplanned admissions occurred in 3.7%.
Conclusion
This study provides a large multisite registry evaluation of performance of simultaneous bronchoscopic sampling of multiple pulmonary nodules with EBUS staging during a single anesthesia event demonstrating an acceptable safety profile and adequacy for molecular profiling.