Diagnostic Value of EBUS-Guided Transbronchial Mediastinal Cryobiopsy Versus Conventional Bronchoscopic Approaches for Stage I/II Sarcoidosis

Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA), combined with endobronchial biopsy (EBB) and/or transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB), and endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial mediastinal cryobiopsy (EBUS-TBMC) have high diagnostic yields for patients with sarcoidosis. However, a direct comparison between them has not been conducted. Two questions remain need to be answered: (1) Does EBUS-TBMC have the same or better diagnostic sensitivity for sarcoidosis than EBUS-TBNA combined with standard bronchoscopic modalities (EBB or/and TBLB)? (2) Can combining EBUS-TBMC with standard bronchoscopic modalities further increase the diagnostic sensitivity for sarcoidosis? This study is designed as a randomised controlled trial to compare the diagnostic yield between EBUS-TBMC and conventional bronchoscopic approaches for diagnosing stage I/II sarcoidosis.

Inclusion criteria

• Age ≥18years;
• Patients with clinical and radiological suspicion of stage I or stage II sarcoidosis;
• Fully informed of the purpose and method of the study

Exclusion criteria

• Pathologically confirmed sarcoidosis, obvious organ involvement with the possibility of confirming granulomas using a minimally invasive diagnostic procedure;
• Patients with medical contraindications to bronchoscopy procedures.