Thoracoscopic lung biopsy

Abstract

One of the most common thoracic procedures performed in children today is a lung biopsy. This can be for diagnostic reasons, in the case of interstitial lung disease (ILD), or for therapeutic and diagnostic reasons in the case of pulmonary nodules (Fan et al. (1997). Lung biopsy was one of the first procedures to be performed using thoracoscopic techniques (Rodgers 1993). New equipment and techniques now allow this to be performed in even the sickest and smallest patients with excellent results and with minimal morbidity. This technique has largely replaced open lung biopsy as the standard of care in infants and children. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2008.