Endobronchial Ultrasound For Diagnosis And Staging Of Lung Cancer

Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) is an imaging technique for adjunctive use with standard flexible bronchoscopy. It provides an ultrasound-generated image of the lungs beyond the airway walls, extending to peribronchial structures and distal peripheral lung lesions. The purpose of EBUS is to facilitate navigation to distal regions of the lungs and biopsy of peripheral pulmonary nodules; especially suspected cancerous lesions. Another intended use of EBUS is to localize and facilitate biopsy of the mediastinal lymph nodes as part of staging for non-small-cell lung cancer. Both techniques primarily use transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) of lesions to obtain tissue samples.