Diagnostic performance of the bronchial aspirate collected before and after the bronchial biopsy in patients with pulmonary neoplasia with endobronchial lesion

Abstract Background and objectives In patients with lung cancer (LC) and endobronchial lesion, the optimal sequence for collecting bronchial aspirate, before (BASpre) or after the biopsy (BASpost) is not yet established. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of BASpre with BASpost. Materials and methods Retrospective study of patients with LC and endobronchial lesion undergoing bronchoscopy with bronchial biopsy and BASpre and BASpost samples. The diagnostic performance of both techniques was calculated. Results A total of 144 patients were included. BASpre was diagnostic in 24 (16.7%) cases and BASpost in 33 (22.9%) (Chi-squared p  Conclusions In patients with LC and endobronchial lesion, BASpost is diagnosed in a higher percentage of cases than BASpre. This difference does not affect the overall diagnostic performance of bronchoscopy as the number of times in which either is the only diagnostic procedure is identical.