BACKGROUND Lung cancer (LC) is frequently associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Despite this well-known association, the outcome of LC in patients with IPF is unclear. The objective of ...this study was to evaluate the impact of LC on survival of patients with associated IPF. METHODS A total of 260 patients with IPF were reviewed, and 186 IPF cases had complete clinical and follow-up data. Among these, five cases were excluded because LC was radiologically suspected but not histologically proven. The remaining 181 cases were categorized in two groups: 23 patients with biopsy-proven LC and IPF (LC-IPF) and 158 patients with IPF only (IPF). Survival and clinical characteristics of the two groups were compared. RESULTS Prevalence of histologically proven LC was 13%, and among those with LC-IPF cumulative incidence at 1 and 3 years was 41% and 82%. Patients with LC were more frequently smokers (91.3% vs 71.6%, P = .001), with combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (52% vs 32%, P = .052). Survival in patients with LC-IPF was significantly worse than in patients with IPF without LC (median survival, 38.7 months vs 63.9 months; hazard ratio = 5.0; 95% CI, 2.91-8.57; P < .001). Causes of death in the study group were respiratory failure in 43% of patients, LC progression in 13%, and LC treatment-related complications in 17%. CONCLUSIONS In patients with IPF, LC has a significant adverse impact on survival. Diagnosis and treatment of LC in IPF are burdened by an increased incidence of severe complicating events, apparently as lethal as the cancer itself.
Surgical lung biopsy is often required for a confident multidisciplinary diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Alternative, less-invasive biopsy methods, such as bronchoscopic lung ...cryobiopsy (BLC), are highly desirable.
To address the impact of BLC on diagnostic confidence in the multidisciplinary diagnosis of IPF.
In this cross-sectional study we selected 117 patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease without a typical usual interstitial pneumonia pattern on high-resolution computed tomography. All cases underwent lung biopsies: 58 were BLC, and 59 were surgical lung biopsy (SLB). Two clinicians, two radiologists, and two pathologists sequentially reviewed clinical-radiologic findings and biopsy results, recording at each step in the process their diagnostic impressions and confidence levels.
We observed a major increase in diagnostic confidence after the addition of BLC, similar to SLB (from 29 to 63%, P = 0.0003 and from 30 to 65%, P = 0.0016 of high confidence IPF diagnosis, in the BLC group and SLB group, respectively). The overall interobserver agreement in IPF diagnosis was similar for both approaches (BLC overall kappa, 0.96; SLB overall kappa, 0.93). IPF was the most frequent diagnosis (50 and 39% in the BLC and SLB group, respectively; P = 0.23). After the addition of histopathologic information, 17% of cases in the BLC group and 19% of cases in the SLB group, mostly idiopathic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia and hypersensitivity pneumonitis, were reclassified as IPF.
BLC is a new biopsy method that has a meaningful impact on diagnostic confidence in the multidisciplinary diagnosis of interstitial lung disease and may prove useful in the diagnosis of IPF. This study provides a robust rationale for future studies investigating the diagnostic accuracy of BLC compared with SLB.
- Transbronchial cryobiopsy has recently been proposed as an alternative to surgical biopsy in the diagnosis of diffuse lung disease.
- To familiarize pathologists with transbronchial cryobiopsy, ...including what it is, how it is performed, how it compares to other techniques of lung biopsy in diffuse lung disease, what are the technical issues relating to it, what the complications are, how cryobiopsies should be interpreted, and the clinical usefulness of cryobiopsy.
- All the available literature on cryobiopsy in diffuse lung disease through May 2016, primarily in the last 5 years, was reviewed, and some unpublished data known to the authors were included.
- Cryobiopsies are considerably larger than forceps biopsies and allow pattern recognition approaching that of a surgical lung biopsy in many cases. Artifacts associated with cryobiopsy are minimal. In comparison with surgical lung biopsies, the diagnosis rate with cryobiopsies is lower, in the neighborhood of 80%, versus higher than 90% for surgical lung biopsies. Cryobiopsy is proposed as an alternative to surgical lung biopsy and a technique that may appreciably decrease the number of patients who require surgical lung biopsy for diagnosis. This is important because the mortality from cryobiopsy is very small (0.1% to date) compared with surgical lung biopsy (1.7% for elective procedures and considerably higher for nonelective procedures).
A diagnosis of interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) may include surgical lung biopsy (SLB), which is associated with significant morbidity and mortality and also appreciable costs. Transbronchial lung ...cryobiopsy (TBLC) is adopting an important role.
The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic yield (DY) and safety of TBLC and SLB in a large cohort of patients and to perform a systematic review of the literature as well as a meta-analysis.
We performed a retrospective analysis of 447 cases with ILD undergoing TBLC and/or SLB and a systematic review of the literature (MEDLINE and Embase for all original articles on the DY and safety of TBLC in ILDs up to July 2015).
A total of 150 patients underwent SLB and 297 underwent TBLC. The median time of hospitalization was 6.1 days (SLB) and 2.6 days (TBLC; p < 0.0001). Mortality due to adverse events was observed for 2.7% (SLB) and 0.3% (TBLC) of the patients. Pneumothorax was the most common complication after TBLC (20.2%). No severe bleeding was observed. TBLC was diagnostic for 246 patients (82.8%), SLB for 148 patients (98.7%, p = 0.013). A meta-analysis of 15 investigations including 781 patients revealed an overall DY of 0.81 (0.75-0.87); the overall pooled probability of developing a pneumothorax, as retrieved from 15 studies including 994 patients, was 0.06 (95% CI 0.02-0.11).
Cryobiopsy is safe and has lower complication and mortality rates compared to SLB. TBLC might, therefore, be considered the first diagnostic approach for obtaining tissue in ILDs, reserving the surgical approach for cases in which TBLC is not diagnostic.
Standardization of trans-bronchial lung cryobiopsy in diffuse parenchymal lung diseases is imminent; however, the majority of published series on cryobiopsy include a limited number of patients and ...are characterized by several differences in procedural technical details.
This is an observational, retrospective cohort study. Aim of the study was to suggest some sampling strategies related to transbronchial cryobiopsy in the diagnostic work-up of patients with diffuse parenchymal lung diseases.
Six hundred ninety-nine patients with suspected diffuse parenchymal lung disease were recruited. A specific pathological diagnosis was achieved in 614/699 cases (87.8%) and a multidisciplinary diagnosis was obtained in 630/699 cases (90.1%). Diagnostic yield was significantly influenced by the number of samples taken (1 vs ≥ 2 biopsies, p < 0.005). In 60.4% of patients, biopsies were taken from one site and in 39.6% from different sites (in the same lobe or in two different lobes), with a significant increase in diagnostic yield, specifically in patients with fibrotic lung diseases (65.5% vs 93.4%, p < 0.0001). The 2.4 mm or 1.9 mm probes were used, with no differences in terms of diagnostic yield. Regarding safety, pneumothorax occurred in 19.2% and was influenced by baseline lung function; in all patients Fogarty balloon has been used and severe haemorrhage occurred in 0.7% of cases. Three patients (0.4% of cases) died within 30 days after the procedure.
We propose some sampling strategies of cryobiopsy which seem to be associated with a higher diagnostic yield and a favorable risk/benefit ratio: sampling at least two samples in different sites, using either the 2.4 mm or the 1.9 mm probe, intubating the patients and using bronchial blockers/catheters.
Histology is a key element for the multidisciplinary diagnosis of fibrotic diffuse parenchymal lung diseases (f-DPLD) when the clinical-radiological picture is nondiagnostic. Transbronchial lung ...cryobiopsy (TBLC) have been shown to be useful for obtaining large and well-preserved biopsies of lung parenchyma, but experience with TBLC in f-DPLD is limited.
To evaluate safety, feasibility and diagnostic yield of TBLC in f-DPLD.
Prospective study of 69 cases of TBLC using flexible cryoprobe in the clinical-radiological setting of f-DPLD with nondiagnostic high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) features.
pneumothorax occurred in 19 patients (28%). One patient (1.4%) died of acute exacerbation. Feasibility: adequate cryobiopsies were obtained in 68 cases (99%). The median size of cryobiopsies was 43.11 mm(2) (range, 11.94-76.25). Diagnostic yield: among adequate TBLC the pathologists were confident ("high confidence") that histopathologic criteria sufficient to define a specific pattern in 52 patients (76%), including 36 of 47 with UIP (77%) and 9 nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (6 fibrosing and 3 cellular), 2 desquamative interstitial pneumonia/respiratory bronchiolitis-interstitial lung disease, 1 organizing pneumonia, 1 eosinophilic pneumonia, 1 diffuse alveolar damage, 1 hypersensitivity pneumonitis and 1 follicular bronchiolitis. In 11 diagnoses of UIP the pathologists were less confident ("low confidence"). Agreement between pathologists in the detection of UIP was very good with a Kappa coefficient of 0.83 (95% CI, 0.69-0.97). Using the current consensus guidelines for clinical-radiologic-pathologic correlation 32% (20/63) of cases were classified as Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), 30% (19/63) as possible IPF, 25% (16/63) as other f-DPLDs and 13% (8/63) were unclassifiable.
TBLC in the diagnosis of f-DPLD appears safe and feasible. TBLC has a good diagnostic yield in the clinical-radiological setting of f-DPLD without diagnostic HRCT features of usual interstitial pneumonia. Future studies should consider TBLC as a potential alternative to SLBx in f-DPLD.
To characterize associations between exposures within and outside the medical workplace with healthcare personnel (HCP) SARS-CoV-2 infection, including the effect of various forms of respiratory ...protection.
Case-control study.
We collected data from international participants via an online survey.
In total, 1,130 HCP (244 cases with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, and 886 controls healthy throughout the pandemic) from 67 countries not meeting prespecified exclusion (ie, healthy but not working, missing workplace exposure data, COVID symptoms without lab confirmation) were included in this study.
Respondents were queried regarding workplace exposures, respiratory protection, and extra-occupational activities. Odds ratios for HCP infection were calculated using multivariable logistic regression and sensitivity analyses controlling for confounders and known biases.
HCP infection was associated with non-aerosol-generating contact with COVID-19 patients (adjusted OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.04-1.9; P = .03) and extra-occupational exposures including gatherings of ≥10 people, patronizing restaurants or bars, and public transportation (adjusted OR range, 3.1-16.2). Respirator use during aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs) was associated with lower odds of HCP infection (adjusted OR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.8, P = .005), as was exposure to intensive care and dedicated COVID units, negative pressure rooms, and personal protective equipment (PPE) observers (adjusted OR range, 0.4-0.7).
COVID-19 transmission to HCP was associated with medical exposures currently considered lower-risk and multiple extra-occupational exposures, and exposures associated with proper use of appropriate PPE were protective. Closer scrutiny of infection control measures surrounding healthcare activities and medical settings considered lower risk, and continued awareness of the risks of public congregation, may reduce the incidence of HCP infection.
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