Thoracoscopic Lung Biopsy for Diffuse Interstitial Lung Disease

Sohn, Dong Suep; Cho, Dai Yun; Yang, Ki Min

Abstract

Diffuse lung disease is amenable to diagnosis by means of clinical evaluation, bronchoalveolar lavage, transbronchial biopsy, and lung biopsy. The recently introduced technique of thoracoscopic wedge biopsy provides the potential advantages of greater selection of biopsy sites and reduced postoperative pain compared with those associated with standard open lung biopsy. Video assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy was performed in 22 patients for the diagnosis of diffuse lung disease during the period from August 1994 to December 1996, and the following results were obtained: 1. The patients were 14 men and 8 women. The average age was 54.6 years. 2. 13 lung biopsy specimens were obtained from the right lower lobe, 4 from the right upper lobe, 3 from the right middle lobe, 3 from the left upper lobe, and 3 from the left lower lobe. 3. A comparison of pulmonary function tests between preoperative and postoperative values showed no significant differences in FVC, FEV1, and FEV1/FVC(p>0.05). 4. All patients were pathologically diagnosed and the most common disease was usual interstitial pneumonia(8/22). In conclusion, thoracoscopic lung biopsy was a safe and effective diagnostic method of diffuse lung disease.