Conventional Versus Ultrasound-guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration for the Diagnosis of Hilar/Mediastinal Lymphadenopathies

The role of transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) for the diagnosis of hilar/mediastinal adenopathy and lung cancer staging is well established. However, it is a blind procedure and its diagnostic yield seems to be related to the operator experience, as well as to the size and location of lymph nodes. In the recent years, there has been increased interest in imaging-assisted TBNA and the endobronchial ultrasound has been suggested to be feasible and to improve the diagnostic yield.

Another technique able to optimize the performance of transbronchial aspirations is the rapid on-site cytological examination (ROSE), allowing to assess the adequacy of samples collected. In this context, no comparative studies between standard TBNA and EBUS-TBNA have been performed. It is very important for clinical practice to definitively assess the possible superiority of EBUS-TBNA in terms of sensitivity, and to provide information regarding safety, procedural time and costs to define the best diagnostic strategy.

The study is focused on 252 patients who have at least one hilar/mediastinal lymph node > 1 cm on CT scan in at least one approachable lymph nodal station (except 2R and 2L) for which a diagnostic cyto-histological assessment is required for clinical purpose. Patients will be randomized 1:1 (control : intervention) by a computer-generated random-allocation system to undergo EBUS-TBNA or conventional TBNA. In case of failure of conventional TBNA, the operator will shift to EBUS procedure. Moreover,a subgroup analysis will be perform to assess the potential impact of lymphnode size and position on final results(univariate analysis).

Inclusion criteria

• age ≥ 18years;
• presence of at least one hilar/mediastinal adenopathy >1 cm on short axis assessed by contrast-enhanced CT scan in at least one approachable stations other than 2R and 2L;
• ability to give an informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

• presence of mediastinal adenopathy in stations 2R and 2L;
• coagulopathy or bleeding diathesis that cannot be corrected;
• severe refractory hypoxemia;
• unstable hemodynamic status;
• inability to give an informed consent.