Background: Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has become the standard for initial lung cancer diagnosis and staging. Previous guidelines have generally focused on the "when" and "how" of EBUS-TBNA; however, little guidance is available on handling and processing specimens during and after acquisition to help optimize both diagnostic yield and tissue integrity for ancillary studies. This document examines the available literature on EBUS-TBNA specimen processing and handling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe management of chylothorax remains challenging given the limited evidence and significant heterogeneity in practice. In addition, there are no practical guidelines on the optimal approach to manage this complex condition. We convened an international group of 27 experts from 20 institutions across five countries and four specialties (pulmonary, interventional radiology, thoracic surgery and nutrition) with experience and expertise in managing adult patients with chylothorax.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPleural effusion is the most common manifestation of pleural disease, and chest ultrasound is crucial for diagnostic workup and post-treatment monitoring. Ultrasound helps distinguish the various types of pleural effusion and enables the detection of typical manifestations of empyema, which presents as a complicated, septated effusion. This may benefit from drainage and the use of intrapleural enzyme therapy or may require more invasive approaches, such as medical or surgical thoracoscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Accurate assessment of the probability of lung cancer (pCA) is critical in patients with pulmonary nodules (PNs) to help guide decision-making. We sought to validate a clinical-genomic classifier developed using whole-transcriptome sequencing of nasal epithelial cells from patients with a PN ≤ 30 mm who smoke or have previously smoked.
Research Question: Can the pCA in individuals with a PN and a history of smoking be predicted by a classifier that uses clinical factors and genomic data from nasal epithelial cells obtained by cytologic brushing?
Study Design And Methods: Machine learning was used to train a classifier using genomic and clinical features on 1,120 patients with PNs labeled as benign or malignant established by a final diagnosis or a minimum of 12 months of radiographic surveillance.
Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is a type of cancer that is highly related to exposure to asbestos fibers. It shows aggressive behavior, and the current therapeutic approaches are usually insufficient to change the poor prognosis. Moreover, apart from staging and histological classification, there are no validated predictors of its response to treatment or its long-term outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Respir Crit Care Med
December 2023
Introduction: Persistent air leaks (PAL) represent a challenging clinical problem for which there is not a clear consensus to guide optimal management. PAL is associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and increased length of hospital stay. There are a variety of surgical and non-surgical management options available.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStrict adherence to procedural protocols and diagnostic definitions is critical to understand the efficacy of new technologies. Electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy (ENB) for lung nodule biopsy has been used for decades without a solid understanding of its efficacy, but offers the opportunity for simultaneous tissue acquisition via electromagnetic navigational transthoracic biopsy (EMN-TTNA) and staging via endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS). To evaluate the diagnostic yield of EBUS, ENB, and EMN-TTNA during a single procedure using a strict definition of diagnostic yield with central pathology adjudication.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSemin Respir Crit Care Med
August 2023
Malignant pleural effusions (MPE) have historically been associated with a poor prognosis, and patients often require a series of invasive procedures and hospitalizations that significantly reduce quality of life at the terminus of life. However, advances in the management of MPE have coincided with the era of immunotherapies, and to a lesser extent, antiangiogenic therapies for the treatment of lung cancer. Landmark studies have shown these drugs to improve overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with lung cancer, but a paucity of phase III trial data exists for the impact of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) on lung cancers associated with MPE.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiagnostic testing is fundamental to medicine. However, studies of diagnostic testing in respiratory medicine vary significantly in terms of their methodology, definitions, and reporting of results. This has led to often conflicting or ambiguous results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCOVID-19 continues to be a major source of global morbidity and mortality. It abruptly stressed healthcare systems early in 2020 and the pressures continue. Devastating hardships have been endured by individuals, families and communities; the losses will be felt for years to come.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Bronchoscopy is commonly utilized for non-surgical sampling of indeterminant pulmonary lesions, but nondiagnostic procedures are common. Accurate assessment of the risk of malignancy is essential for decision making in these patients, yet we lack tools that perform well across this heterogeneous group of patients. We sought to evaluate the accuracy of three previously validated risk models and physician-assessed risk (PAR) in patients with a newly identified lung lesion undergoing bronchoscopy for suspected lung cancer where the result is nondiagnostic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA new era in guideline creation began in 2011 with publication of the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) Standards for Developing Trustworthy Clinical Practice Guidelines. The American Thoracic Society (ATS) was committed to developing guidelines in accordance with the new standards and decided that an experienced guideline methodologist would be required on ATS guideline projects to ensure correct implementation of the standards. The ATS Guideline Methodology Training Program was launched to increase the pool of trained methodologists.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Bronchoscopic lung biopsy is typically performed using transbronchial forceps. However, this method is limited by small sample size and presence of crush artifact. Cryobiopsy offers the potential to overcome these limitations with larger artifact-free samples but has not been widely adopted due to concerns over increased rates of bleeding and pneumothorax.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Percepta Genomic Sequencing Classifier (GSC) was developed to up-classify as well as down-classify the risk of malignancy for lung lesions when bronchoscopy is non-diagnostic. We evaluated the performance of Percepta GSC in risk re-classification of indeterminate lung lesions. This multicenter study included individuals who currently or formerly smoked undergoing bronchoscopy for suspected lung cancer from the AEGIS I/ II cohorts and the Percepta Registry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Malignant pleural effusions (MPEs) are common. MPE causes significant breathlessness and impairs quality of life. Indwelling pleural catheters (IPC) allow ambulatory drainage and reduce hospital days and re-intervention rates when compared to standard talc slurry pleurodesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 43-year-old woman without significant medical history was admitted with fatigue for 2 months. Before her current presentation, she had experienced several weeks of heavy menstrual bleeding and easy bruising. She denied night sweats, weight loss, chills, sore throat, neck swelling, rash, joint pain, cough, fever, or shortness of breath.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTunneled, indwelling pleural catheters (IPCs) have been demonstrated to be an effective method of managing malignant pleural effusions. However, they allow pleurodesis and can therefore be removed in only a subset of patients. A novel, silver nitrate-coated IPC was developed with the intention of creating a rapid, effective chemical pleurodesis to allow more frequent and earlier catheter removal.
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