Bookmark this page or recommend it.

A bronchoscopy is a procedure whereby the airways are being examined from the inside. The  procedure  is an  important one and uses an optical instrument which is inserted through the mouth and the wind pipe to see the bronchial tree.  Modern bronchoscopes are flexible instruments  fitted with fibre optics.  Only rarely is this examination still performed under general anaesthesia; a sedative and spraying of the mouth with a local anaesthesia  are sufficient.

The tip of the endoscope is used to remove tissue samples (biopsy) from suspicious regions of the bronchial wall. The samples are cut into thin tissue slices and examined for cancer cells under the microscope. This  histological examination allows the distinction between benign and malignant cells and, in case of cancer, the exact classification of the cancer type.

On occasion, a bronchial lavage may be performed as part of a bronchoscopy. Collected cells from the bronchial wall are examined under the microscope and can, as part of a fine tissue (cytological) evaluation provide information about cancer specific  changes.  The most important function of a bronchoscopy is to obtain a tissue sample. In the event that a suspicious area cannot be reached, a CT- controlled biopsy can be carried out.

Broncoscopies are performed in the Department III of Internal Medicine (focus Pneumology).  

> Back