Cryobiopsy In Interstitial Lung Disease: A Real-Life Experience From A Single Center In Argentina

Transbronchial lung cryobiopsy (TBLC) has been recently introduced for the histological assessment of interstitial lung diseases. The objectives were to assess the diagnostic yield and safety of TBLC for interstitial lung diseases in our setting. A retrospective review of subjects who underwent TBLC in a tertiary care center from September 2016 to November 2019 was performed. Data regarding subject and procedure characteristics. complications, histopathological and multidisciplinary diagnosis was recorded. Logistic regression was used to analyze potential factors associated to diagnosis and complications. A total of 52 subjects were included. Mean number of samples was 5.7 (SD 1.7) with a median sample diameter of 6 mm (interquartile range 6-8). Pneumothorax developed in 13 (25%) participants, and no cases of severe bleeding or death were registered. A 73.1% and 84.5% diagnostic yield was recorded through histology and added multidisciplinary evaluation respectively. The number of samples was associated to the diagnostic yield in a multivariate analysis (OR 2.15 -CI95% 1.16-3.99). TBLC appears to be safe and effective for the assessment of interstitial lung diseases in a real life setting when applied in a center with access to multidisciplinary evaluation.