Short summary

Since February 2017 transbronchial cryobiopsy (TBCB) has been an available invasive diagnostic procedure in South Danish Center of Interstitial Lung Diseases at Department of Respiratory Medicine at Odense University Hospital, Denmark.

Rationale

Transbronchial cryobiopsy (TBCB) has been introduced as an alternative to surgical lung biopsy (SLB) in the diagnostics of interstitial lung diseases (ILD). Though, controversy on the safety of TBCB, the procedure is increasingly implemented in ILD centers as an outpatient procedure with an apparent diagnostic yield comparable to SLB. This study aims to assess the TBCB experiences from a tertiary Danish ILD center with respect to diagnosis and complications.

Description of the cohort

Patients are selected according to following inclusion criteria:

- Unclassified ILD after HRCT review on a MDD

- FVC > 50% pred.

- DLCO > 40% pred.

- Normal eccochardiography < 12 months with tricuspidal gradient < 40 mmHg

- HRCT < 12 months

- BMI < 35 kg/m²

Data and biological material

Histological data on TBCBs, cytological data on bronchoalveolar lavage, lung function and physiological tests, high-resolution computed tomographies of the thorax, data on procedure-related complications as e.g. bleeding and pneumothorax, admissions and mortality.

Collaborating researchers and departments

Department of Respiratory Medicine, Odense University Hospital 

• Associate Professor, Christian B. Laursen, PhD Consultant 

Publications associated with the project

Davidsen JR, Skov IR, Louw IG, Laursen CB. Implementation of transbronchial lung cryobiopsy in a tertiary referral center for interstitial lung diseases: a cohort study on diagnostic yield, complications, and learning curves. BMC Pulm Med. 2021 Feb 25;21(1):67. doi: 10.1186/s12890-021-01438-1. PMID: 33632180; PMCID: PMC7908747.