Robotic Bronchoscopy Plus Advanced Imaging Accurate for Diagnosing Lung Malignancy

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Combined use of shape-sensing robotic-assisted bronchoscopy (ssRAB) with radial endobronchial ultrasound (r-EBUS) and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) for lung lesions has high diagnostic accuracy for malignancy, according to a study published online Nov. 11 in Lung.

Kim Styrvoky, M.D., from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis of the first 200 biopsy procedures of 209 lung lesions using ssRAB combined with r-EBUS and CBCT.

The researchers found that the median lesion dimension was 19 mm, and the mean largest lesion diameter was 22.6 ± 13.3 mm. The prevalence of malignancy was 64.1 percent. ssRAB combined with advanced imaging had a diagnostic accuracy of 91.4 percent; sensitivity and specificity were 87.3 and 98.7 percent, respectively. The negative predictive value was 81.3 percent and the positive predictive value was 99.2 percent. Nondiagnostic sampling was performed at a rate of 11 percent. The only complication was pneumothorax, which occurred in 1 percent of procedures; 0.5 percent needed a chest tube.

“This retrospective study adds to the currently available body of literature suggesting that ssRAB in conjunction with advanced imaging modalities, such as r-EBUS and CBCT, is the next evolutionary step in guided bronchoscopy and provides an accurate and safe procedure for the evaluation of malignant and nonmalignant pulmonary lesions,” the authors write.

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