Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) as a Diagnostic Tool for the Evaluation of Mediastinal Pathology: The Leicester Experience

Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) is a recently developed and evolving tool that enables sampling of mediastinal lymph nodes and other peribronchial tissues using real-time ultrasonic image guidance. Studies to date report superior diagnostic specificity and sensitivity with EBUS, compared with conventional transbronchial needle aspiration performed without image guidance. Furthermore, the specificity of EBUS for malignant mediastinal lymph node disease is comparable to the gold standard of surgical mediastinoscopy. As a clinical tool, EBUS is a minimally invasive, out-patient procedure that is fast transforming diagnostic pathways for mediastinal pathology. In this article, we summarise the technical aspects of EBUS and present our local clinical experience of 18 months.