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Abstract
In the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, 750 patients were examined for pulmonary lesions during the nine-month period from August 1, 1972, to May 1, 1973. All the patients underwent conventional rigid bronchoscopy. in 100 of them accurate diagnosis could not be obtained by this method and they were consequently all examined with the flexible broncho-fiber-scope. the experience gained with the use of the flexible broncho-fiberscope combined with bronchial brushing and forceps biopsy is discussed. It is important to establish the nature of pulmonary lesions in order to avoid unnecessary thoracotomies and possibly serious complications, particularly in persons of advanced age. Broncho-fiberscopy has proved to be the most appropriate method for obtaining a diagnosis in case of central lesions of the upper lobes and of intermediate lung lesions. A diagnosis of peripheral lung lesion is most readily obtained by transthoracic fine-needle biopsy. It is concluded that a combination of the two methods is an important improvement in patients in whom conventional procedures do not lead to a histopathological diagnosis.