Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration for mediastinal staging of lung cancer and diagnosis of intrathoracic lesions.

Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS) has been demonstrated to be a valuable minimally invasive procedure for mediastinal staging of patients with lung cancer, diagnosis of intrathoracic lesions, diagnosis of unknown lymphadenopathy and re-staging the mediastinum following neoadjuvant chemotherapy for NSCLC. The aim of this minireview was to focus on EBUS for mediastinal staging of NSCLC and for further evaluation of intrathoracic lesions that remain undiagnosed despite conventional diagnostic evaluation. In conclusion, EBUS represents a good alternative to mediastinoscopy for mediastinal staging of patients with NSCLC because the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity is higher and suspicious chest lesions may be biopsied with hardly any risk of complications.