[Endobronchial ultrasound and fine needle aspiration for central airway lesions].

Background: Endobronchial ultrasound-guided trans-bronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is a minimally invasive procedure with a high diagnostic yield for lesions adjacent to the central airway.
Aim: To describe the diagnostic yield of EBUS-TBNA for lesions suspicious of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).
Material and Methods: Prospective study of 128 patients aged 25 to 87 years (56% males) undergoing EBUS-TBNA. Radiological features of the lesions were recorded by chest CT scan such as morphology, margins of the lesion, lesion size and location based on the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) map. Definitive pathological results were evaluated.
Results: The average size of lesions was 18.5 millimeter and; 68 cases were of less than 20 millimeters. Sensitivity was 96.7%, specificity 100%, and negative predictive value 93.3%. The most common histological diagnosis was adenocarcinoma.
Conclusions: EBUS-TBNA is a useful diagnostic tool for NSCLC suspicious lesions adjacent to the central airway.