Feasibility of Non-Invasive Sentinel Lymph Node Identification in Early-Stage NSCLC Through Ultrasound Guided Intra-Tumoral Injection of Tc-Nanocolloid and Iodinated Contrast Agent During Navigation Bronchoscopy.

: As the first sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) in lung cancer are most likely to harbor metastasis, their non-invasive identification could have a significant role in future treatments. We investigated the feasibility of adding an SLN procedure to a diagnostic navigation bronchoscopy. : Thirty-one patients were included for injection of Tc-nanocolloid and an iodinated contrast agent intra-/peritumorally and assessment of tracer dissipation via SPECT and CBCT imaging.

Cone-beam CT in lung biopsy: a clinical practice review on lessons learned and future perspectives.

Pulmonary nodules with intermediate to high risk of malignancy should preferably be diagnosed with image guide minimally invasive diagnostics before treatment. Several technological innovations have been developed to endobronchially navigate to these lesions and obtain tissue for diagnosis. This review addresses these technological advancements in navigation bronchoscopy in three basic steps: navigation, position confirmation and acquisition, with a specific focus on cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT).

exploration of an endobronchial sentinel lymph node procedure in lung cancer for optimizing workflow and evaluating feasibility of novel imaging tools.

Background: Early-stage lung cancer is treated with curative intent by surgery or radiotherapy. However, upstaging is frequently seen after surgery in clinical N0 lung cancer patients, and despite curative intent, 2-year recurrence rates of 9-28% are reported. A sentinel lymph node (SLN) procedure could improve the staging accuracy.