Usefulness of the Flexible Bronchoscopy for Pediatric Respiratory Diseases

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Flexible bronchoscopy is an important diagnostic and sometimes therapeutic tool that can be used on infants and children using light sedation and local anaesthesia. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the contribution of the flexible bronchoscopy to clinical diagnosis and therapy in children. METHODS: We examined the first 100 consecutive flexible bronchoscopies performed in children under 15 years of age(median age, 7 years). RESULTS: Indications for bronchoscopy were bronchoalveolar lavage(39.3%), wheezing(12.5%), stridor/noisy breathing(10.7%), recurrent/persistent pneumonia(8.0%), atelectasis or bronchial toilet (7.1%), equivocal airway foreign body(6.3%), hemoptysis(4.5%), and miscellaneous other reasons (11.6%). Inspection was abnormal in 79.0% of all investigations and made a clinically meaningful contribution to diagnosis in 79.0%. Bronchoalveolar lavage cytology was abnormal in 77.3% of the 44 lavages. Viruses and bacteria were isolated in 33.3% of the 48 specimens cultured. Meaningful therapeutic result was obtained in 81.3% of the 16 therapeutic bronchoscopies including bronchial toilet and persistent atelectasis. CONCLUSION: A high yield of meaningful diagnostic information and therapeutic goal can be expected from flexible bronchoscopy in children.