Robot-assisted bronchoscopy for pulmonary lesion diagnosis: results from the initial multicenter experience

BMC Pulmonary Medicine

Table 5 Diagnostic findings n = 114

Adenocarcinoma	46 (40.4)
Small cell carcinoma	4 (3.5)
Squamous cells carcinoma	13 (11.4)
Neuroendocrine tumor	6 (5.3)
Hamartoma	2 (1.8)
Poorly differentiated lung cancer	2 (1.8)
Melanoma	1 (0.9)
Atypical cells^a	13 (11.4)
Fungal	2 (1.8)
Appendiceal adenocarcinoma	1 (0.9)
Ovarian cancer	1 (0.9)
Non-necrotizing granuloma	3 (2.6)
Prostate cancer	3 (2.6)
Organizing pneumonia	1 (0.9)
Necrotic material^b	2 (1.8)
Colorectal	2 (1.8)
Renal	1 (0.9)
Lymphoma	1 (0.9)
Other Benign Diagnoses^c	10 (8.8)

Values are counts (%). In four cases tissue was not acquired due to navigation failure
^aAtypical cells were labeled as diagnostic when they were considered sufficient to manage a nodule (with no further biopsy or follow-up required) on multi-disciplinary consensus. E.g. In a patient with head & neck cancer with lung nodules, if the lung biopsy revealed atypical cells that were considered sufficient to consider the disease as metastatic to the lung (requiring no further work-up), it was considered as a diagnostic procedure. If the finding of atypical cells required further work-up or biopsy to better characterize this, the procedure was considered non-diagnostic. E.g. A patient with suspected lung cancer, in whom a biopsy showed just atypical cells would be considered non-diagnostic
^bNecrotic material on pathology was found in a patient whose presentation and course was consistent with a lung abscess, and in another patient with a lung lesion with newly-diagnosed histoplasmosis (on serology)
^cThese included chronic or granulomatous inflammation with or without giant cells that decreased in size on follow-up imaging

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