Trans-bronchial lung cryobiopsy in patients at high-risk of complications

• Published in: BMC pulmonary medicine Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 135 - 8
• Main Authors: Bondue, Benjamin, Schlossmacher, Pascal, Allou, Nathalie, Gazaille, Virgile, Taton, Olivier, Gevenois, Pierre Alain, Vandergheynst, Frederic, Remmelink, Myriam, Leduc, Dimitri
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 26.04.2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Angina pectoris; Anticoagulants; Biopsy; Blood pressure; Body mass index; Bronchoscopy; Cardiovascular disease; Clinical medicine; Complications; Complications and side effects; Coronary artery disease; Cryobiopsy; Cryosurgery; Diffuse parenchymal lung disease; Ejection fraction; Heart diseases; Hospitals; Interstitial lung disease; Intubation; Lung diseases; Lungs; Methods; Morbidity; Mortality; Patients; Pneumothorax; Pulmonary arteries; Pulmonary artery; Pulmonary fibrosis; Pulmonary hypertension; Pulmonology; Respiratory function; Risk factors; Risk groups; SLB; Statistical analysis; Surgery; Surgical lung biopsy; Trans-bronchial lung cryobiopsy; Belgium; ILD; TBLC; Pulmonary fibrosis; Trans-bronchial lung cryobiopsy; Diffuse parenchymal lung disease; SLB; Cryobiopsy; Interstitial lung disease; Surgical lung biopsy
• DOI: 10.1186/s12890-021-01503-9
• ISSN: 1471-2466

The surgical lung biopsy (SLB) is the recommended sampling technique when the pathological analysis of the lung is required in the work-up of an interstitial lung disease (ILD) but trans-bronchial lung cryobiopsy (TBLC) is increasingly recognized as an alternative approach. As TBLCs have lower mortality and morbidity risks than SLB, this study aimed to investigate the safety of TBLCs in patients at higher risk of complications and for whom SLB was not considered as an alternative. This prospective study was conducted in two hospitals in which TBLCs were performed in patients with body mass index (BMI) > 35, and/or older than 75 years, and/or with severely impaired lung function (FVC < 50% or DLCO < 30%), and/or systolic pulmonary artery pressure > 45 mmHg, and/or a clinically significant cardiac disease. Patients with any of these risk factors constituted the high-risk group. Clinical outcomes were compared with those obtained in patients without these risk factors (low-risk group). Ninety-six patients were included between April 2015 and April 2020, respectively 38 and 58 in the high-risk or the low-risk group. No statistically significant difference was observed between both groups in terms of severity and rate of bleeding, pneumothorax, or duration of hospital stay (p value ranging from 0.419 to 0.914). This preliminary study on a limited number of patients suggests that TBLC appears safe in those in whom lung biopsy is at high-risk of complications according to their age, BMI, lung impairment, and cardiac comorbidities.