Abstract
Narrow band imaging (NBI) video bronchoscopy provides better visualisation of submucosal vascular patterns in malignant airway lesions compared to white light bronchoscopy. This analytical cross-sectional study was aimed to look for any relationship between these NBI vascular patterns and the histologic type of lung cancer. After screening 78 patients with suspected lung cancer, 53 subjects underwent video bronchoscopy. Thirty-two patients showing abnormal bronchial mucosa or endobronchial growth with any of the NBI vascular patterns on bronchoscopy were enrolled in the study. These abnormal areas were then biopsied and sent for histologic examination. NBI bronchoscopy revealed a dilated tortuous vascular pattern in 54.8% of the patients, a non-specific pattern in 32%, a dotted pattern in 9.7% and an abrupt ending vessels pattern in 3.2% of the patients. We did not find any statistically significant relationship between a dilated tortuous pattern and squamous-cell carcinoma (p = 0.48), adenocarcinoma (p = 0.667) or small-cell carcinoma (p = 1); between a dotted pattern and squamous-cell carcinoma (p = 1), adenocarcinoma (p = 0.54) or small-cell carcinoma (p = 1), and between an abrupt ending capillary pattern and squamous-cell carcinoma (p = 1), adenocarcinoma (p = 1) or small-cell carcinoma (p =1). No relationship exists between NBI vascular patterns and the histology of lung cancer. Endobronchial lesions showing any vascular pattern on NBI needs to be adequately sampled for proper histologic and molecular studies in lung cancer patients.
Highlights
Narrow band imaging (NBI) video bronchoscopy provides better visualisation of submucosal vascular patterns in malignant airway lesions compared to white light bronchoscopy
narrow band imaging (NBI) bronchoscopy has been found to be useful in detecting increased vascularisation and complex vessel networks in the bronchial mucosa ranging from tortuous vessels, dotted vessels to spiral or screw type vessels during the process of carcinogenesis [9]
The first study to look for any relation between different NBI patterns and histology of lung cancer was done by Zaric et al [13]
Summary
Nishant Kumar Chauhan et al, NBI video bronchoscopy in lung cancer patients as bronchoscopy is concerned, NBI is still a tool in search of proper indications. Shibuya et al [6] first described the pathological patterns on bronchial mucosa that are known as Shibuya’s descriptors (dotted, tortuous and abrupt ending vessels). We conducted this study to find whether any relationship exists between different NBI vascular patterns and the histology of lung cancer
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