| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2012 | Volume
: 7
| Issue : 4 | Page : 210-214 |
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The utility of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration in mediastinal or hilar lymph node evaluation in extrathoracic malignancy: Benign or malignant?
Elif T Parmaksiz, Benan Caglayan, Banu Salepci, Sevda S Comert, Nesrin Kiral, Ali Fidan, Gulsen Sarac
Department of Pulmonary Diseses, Lutfi Kirdar Kartal Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Correspondence Address:
Sevda S Comert
Pembe kosk sok. Emek apt. No: 16 D:14 34732 Kadikoy, Istanbul
Turkey
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/1817-1737.102171
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Objective: Newly arising enlarged or hypermetabolic mediastinal/hilar lymph nodes (LNs) in patients with previously diagnosed extrathoracic malignancies raise suspicion of metastasis. Relatively high proportion of these LNs is due to a benign condition. We aimed to determine frequency of malignant LNs and role of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) for clarification of the origin of suspicious LNs in these patients.
Methods: Consecutive patients with a known extrathoracic malignancy and suspected hilar/mediastinal LN were included in this prospective study. Computed tomography (CT) of thorax and positron emission tomography-CT of all patients were taken. LNs with short axis >1 cm at CT of thorax and SUV ≥ 2.5 were accepted suspicious for malignancy. All patients underwent EBUS-TBNA for pathological verification of LNs. Patients with benign diagnosis either underwent invasive procedures or were followed up. The results were evaluated for frequency of malignant hilar/mediastinal LNs and sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic values of EBUS-TBNA.
Results: A total of 48 cases with a mean age of 57.4±11.6 were included. All cases had the diagnosis of an extrathoracic malignancy. 78 LNs were aspirated with EBUS-TBNA in 48 cases (1.62 LNs/patient). The mean short axis of aspirated LNs was 1.51±0.63. Results of EBUS-TBNA revealed malignancy in 15 cases (31.2%), tuberculosis in six cases (12.5%), sarcoidosis in four cases (8.3%), and reactive adenitis in 23 cases (48%). The sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value of EBUS-TBNA for malignancy were 83.3%, 100%, and 90.9%, respectively. When both benign and malignant diseases were considered, sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy of EBUS-TBNA were 89.2%, 100%, 86.9%, and 93.7%, respectively.
Conclusions: The ratio of benign LNs in patients with extrathoracic malignancies is relatively high. EBUS-TBNA is a safe, minimally invasive, and effective method for clarification of intrathoracic LNs. |
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