Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jan-Feb;33(1):64-8.
doi: 10.4103/0970-2113.173066.

Transbronchial lung biopsy with a flexible cryoprobe: First case report from India

Sahajal Dhooria  1 , Amanjit Bal  2 , Inderpaul Singh Sehgal  1 , Ashutosh Nath Aggarwal  1 , Digambar Behera  1 , Ritesh Agarwal  1
Affiliations

Transbronchial lung biopsy with a flexible cryoprobe: First case report from India

Sahajal Dhooria et al. Lung India. 2016 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

Sarcoidosis and tuberculosis are granulomatous disorders that mimic each other both clinically and radiologically. Both can present with fever and pulmonary nodules and often require the performance of transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) for diagnosis. In recent studies, the flexible cryoprobe for carrying out TBLB has been found to be useful in the diagnosis of disorders diffusely involving the lung parenchyma. Here, we present the case of a 29-year-old man who presented with fever and cough and was found to have multiple small nodules in both lungs. TBLB with a flexible cryoprobe helped in differentiating between sarcoidosis and tuberculosis.

Keywords: Bronchoscopy; cryobiopsy; cryotherapy; lung biopsy; sarcoidosis; transbronchial lung biopsy; tuberculosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
F Computed tomography of the chest showing multiple random nodules diffusely distributed in both the lung fields
Figure 2
Figure 2
Gross appearance of the flexible FB (left) and CB tissue (right). The difference in the sizes can be easily appreciated
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a and b) Photomicrographs showing comparison of sizes of the flexible FB and CB under scanner view [hematoxylin and eosin (H and E), ×40], (c) FB showing single focus of loose collection of epithelioid cells forming granuloma (H and E, ×200), (d) CB showing well-formed epithelioid cell granuloma with Langhans giant cells and central necrosis with nuclear debris (H and E, ×200)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Gotway MB, Reddy GP, Webb WR, Elicker BM, Leung JW. High-resolution CT of the lung: Patterns of disease and differential diagnoses. Radiol Clin North Am. 2005;43:513–42. viii. - PubMed
    1. Lad D, Malhotra P, Maskey D, Santhosh S, Mittal BR, Das A, et al. Pyrexia, lung nodules, granulomas: Pulmonary lymphomatoid granulomatosis. Indian J Hematol Blood Transfus. 2014;30(Suppl 1):418–21. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Marchiori E, Zanetti G, Barreto MM, de Andrade FT, Rodrigues RS. Atypical distribution of small nodules on high resolution CT studies: Patterns and differentials. Respir Med. 2011;105:1263–7. - PubMed
    1. Gupta D. Tuberculosis and sarcoidosis: The continuing enigma. Lung India. 2009;26:1–2. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gupta D, Agarwal R, Aggarwal AN, Jindal SK. Sarcoidosis and tuberculosis: The same disease with different manifestations or similar manifestations of different disorders. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2012;18:506–16. - PubMed