ABSTRACT
STUDY OBJECTIVES: To evaluate factors affecting the diagnostic yield of flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy in evaluating solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs). DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of bronchoscopies performed over a 4-year period. SETTING: A tertiary teaching hospital. PATIENTS: One hundred seventy-seven patients with pulmonary nodules without endobronchial lesions who underwent bronchoscopy with brushing, washing, and transbronchial biopsy. RESULTS: There were 151 malignant and 26 benign lesions. The diagnostic accuracy of bronchoscopy in malignant and benign lesions were 64% (97 of 151) and 35% (9 of 26), respectively. The yield of bronchoscopy was directly related to lesion size (p < 0.001, chi(2)). When lesions were grouped according to distance from the hilum, yields of bronchoscopy in central, intermediate, and peripherally located lesions were 82, 61, and 53%, respectively (p = 0.05, chi(2)). When we stratified distance from the hilum by lesion size, the difference in yield was not significant. However, lesions
