Role of thoracoscopic lung biopsy by electrocautery in diagnosing of patients with diffuse lung disease
AL-Sherif S.A. Hussien, Kamal M.M. Darwish, Khaled M.I. Halima, Yassin A. GalalBackground and aim
Thoracoscopic lung biopsy using electrocautery is a minimally invasive procedure utilized for obtaining lung tissue samples to aid in the diagnosis of diffuse lung disease. This study aimed to evaluate the role of thoracoscopic lung biopsy by electrocautery in diagnosing patients with diffuse lung disease.
Patients and methods
A total of 40 patients with diffuse lung infiltrates on computed tomography (CT) chest of unconfirmed diagnosis were included. Chest radiography and CT were done for all patients. 3–5 thoracoscopic lung biopsies were obtained from different sets using diathermy forceps set at 60-watt coagulation. Complications were recorded.
Results
High-resolution CT revealed a predominant reticulation pattern combined with ground-glass opacities in 75.0%. Patients had a restrictive ventilatory defect, with no cases of obstructive or mixed patterns observed. 37.5% exhibited a very severe restrictive defect. By biopsy 45% of patients had the usual Interstitial Pneumonia, 12.5% had nonspecific interstitial pneumonia, 7.5% had sarcoidosis and 5% had silicosis. Air leakage occurred in two cases and took 6 days. The time of the chest tube stays (2.6 to 6) days. Complications occurred in two patients only as subcutaneous emphysema.
Conclusion
Thoracoscopic lung biopsy using electrocautery is a safe and effective method for diagnosing interstitial lung diseases, especially when performed by a qualified specialist.