Objective: The authors evaluate in a retrospective study the diagnostic yield of videothorascopic (VTS) biopsy of the lungs and evaluate the representativeness of one wedge-shaped bioptic specimen of the lungs collected by an endoscopic device according to HRCT, and the macroscopic finding on operation.
Method: Based on the indication of a pneumologist in 1993-1999 210 patients were subjected to VTS pulmonary biopsy when all non-invasive diagnostic methods had been exhausted.
Results: The bioptic specimens gave diagnostic yields in 202 cases (96.2%), the most frequent histological finding included idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis.
Conclusion: From the results ensues that collection of one sufficiently large and aimed bioptic specimen leads to a correct diagnosis in a high percentage of cases.