Transbronchial Needle Aspiration in Lung Cancer Patients Suitable for Operation With Positive Mediastinal Positron Emission Tomography

Transbronchial needle aspiration avoided a mediastinoscopy in approximately half of lung cancer patients referred for operation with positive mediastinal positron emission tomography, sparing the associated costs and risks of more invasive surgical procedures. The minimally invasive mediastinal staging algorithm that we proposed seems to be efficacious and easily applicable in clinical practice.