Application of Interventional Bronchoscopy in Pulmonary Peripheral Lesions

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. A low cure rate of lung cancer is not only attributed to intrinsic aggressive biological behavior, but also little attention to lung cancer screening. With lung screening methods continuous progress, peripheral pulmonary lesions detection rate gradually increased. Currently, a transbronchial approach using a bronchoscope or computed tompgraphy (CT) guided transthoracic needle aspiration/biopsy have been the most generally accepted methods for diagnosing peripheral pulmonary lesions. However, conventional bronchoscopy has a poor diagnostic yield and CT-guided approach has high rates of pneumothorax for such peripheral pulmonary lesions. Therefore, clinicians will be challenged with the task of providing the means to provide a safe and minimally invasive method of obtaining accurate tissue diagnostics for the pulmonary peripheral lesions. New bronchoscopic interventional diagnosis technologies have recommended in clinical gradually. They can effectively improve the peripheral pulmonary lesions diagnosis rate, shorten the time of diagnosis, and make the patients get timely and effective treatment. In this paper, we reviewed briefly available technologies to aid clinicians in attempts at minimally invasive techniques.