Dangers of Cigarette-smoking

Aims and Objectives: Endobronchial ultrasound elastography may help distinguish malignant from benign lymph nodes. The diagnostic value of elastography was evaluated in this prospective single-center trial. Methods: Elastographic image from 42 lymph nodes were reviewed by 3 pneumologists, independently and blinded for the pathological result. The elastographic image was classified based on the predominant colour: predominantly green, intermediary and predominantly blue. With 2 or 3 interobserver matches, the corresponding elastographic image was correlated with the pathological result obtained from EBUS-TBNA and/or other invasive procedures. Results: All three reviewers agreed in classifying of elastographic image in 35.7% (15/42), two readers in 59.5% (25/42). On cytological/histological evaluation, 26 lymph nodes were malignant, 16 were benign. The elastography classification of lymph nodes and its correlation with the pathological result is presented in Table 1. In classifying “green” as benign and “blue” as malignant, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predicted value and negative predicted value were 83.3%, 71.4%, 88.2% and 62.5%. Conclusion: Elastography will not replace invasive EBUS-TBNA but will maybe present an additional feature that may help identify malignant lymph nodes.