Abstract

Mediastinal and hilar adenopathies Neoplastic disease a b s t r a c t Background: Cell block material from puncture can be obtained with endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) in many cases. The aim of this study was to analyze the value of additional information from cell blocks obtained with EBUS-TBNA samples from mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes and masses. Methods: Review of pathology reports with a specific diagnosis obtained from EBUS-TBNA samples of mediastinal or hilar lesions, prospectively obtained over a two-year period. The generation of cell blocks from cytology needle samples, the contribution to morphological diagnosis, and the possible use of samples for immunohistochemistry were analyzed. Results: One hundred and twenty-nine samples corresponding to 110 patients were reviewed. The diag-nosis was lung cancer in 81 % of cases, extrapulmonary carcinoma in 10%, sarcoidosis in 4%, lymphoma in 2.7%, and tuberculosis in 0.9%. Cell blocks could be obtained in 72 % of cases. Immunohistochemistry studies on the cell blocks were significantly easier to perform than on conventional smears (52.6 % vs 14%,