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Review
. 2021 Oct 19;11(10):1938.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics11101938.

The Role of Bronchoscopy in the Diagnosis and Management of Patients with SARS-Cov-2 Infection

Davide Biondini  1 , Marco Damin  1 , Martina Bonifazi  2   3 , Elisabetta Cocconcelli  1 , Umberto Semenzato  1 , Paolo Spagnolo  1 , Stefano Gasparini  2   3 , Marina Saetta  1 , Elisabetta Balestro  1
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Bronchoscopy in the Diagnosis and Management of Patients with SARS-Cov-2 Infection

Davide Biondini et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

Abstract

Bronchoscopy has several major diagnostic and therapeutic indications in pulmonology. However, it is an aerosol-generating procedure that places healthcare providers at an increased risk of infection. Now more than ever, during the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the infectious risk during bronchoscopy is significantly raised, and for this reason its role in diagnostic management is debated. In this review, we summarized current evidence regarding the indications for bronchoscopy and the measures that should be applied to decrease risk exposure. Indeed, seeing the long-lasting period of the pandemic, resuming standard of care for all patients is required.

Keywords: COVID-19; bronchoscopy; diagnostic strategies.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Evidence of mucosal infiltration and pseudomembranes in the left main bronchus, in a COVID-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA). The patient underwent a bronchial biopsy for the histological diagnosis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chest X-ray (CXR) (left), CT scan (right) of a lung transplanted patient who was infected by SARS-CoV-2 during the recovery after transplant. The patient underwent a tranbronchial bronchial biopsy and was histologically diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia.
Figure 3
Figure 3
CT scan (left) of a patient that underwent left pneumonectomy, showing a possible left bronchopleural fistula, in a COVID-19 positive patient, confirmed by bronchoscopy (right) using single-use flexible bronchoscope.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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