Objective: To evaluate the role of endobronchial ultrasound guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) in lymph node staging and resectability assessment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: The clinical data of 154 patients with NSCLC who underwent EBUS-TBNA from March 2015 to December 2018 were collected. All accessible mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes were systematically explored and punctured using EBUS-TBNA. EBUS-TBNA and CT were used for preoperative staging and resectability evaluation. Results: The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of EBUS-TBNA were 94.2%, 100.0% and 96.0%, respectively, while those of CT were 89.9%, 31.8% and 72.0%, respectively. The differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of EBUS-TBNA in lymph nodes with short diameter less than 15 mm were 92.4%, 100.0% and 96.0%, respectively, while those of CT were 80.7%, 34.8% and 60.1%, respectively, with statistical differences (P<0.05). The staging of 62 patients was changed, 27 cases were up-regulated and 35 cases were down-regulated. Among them, 32 cases had been changed to resectable. The evaluating resectability of EBUS-TBNA showed excellent consistency with that of pathological results (Kappa=0.95). The sensitivity and specificity were 100.0% and 97.2%, respectively. Conclusion EBUS-TBNA can systemically evaluate the metastatic status of NSCLC patients and improve the accuracy of preoperative lymph node staging and resectability assessment.

Objective:To evaluate the diagnostic efficiency and safety of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration(EBUS-TBNA)in lymph node staging of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)in elderly patients.Methods:Thirty-five patients aged ≥70 years and 58 patients aged 60-69 years with NSCLC receiving EBUS-TBNA in our hospital from March 2015 to December 2018 were enrolled.All patients underwent EBUS for all visible mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes, and those with enlarged lymph nodes(short axis ≥6 mm)were further examined with TBNA.The diagnostic efficiency and safety of EBUS-TBNA were analyzed.Results:The sensitivity of EBUS-TBNA was 0.94, the specificity was 1.00, the Yoden index was 0.94, the positive predictive value was 1.00, and the negative predictive value was 0.82.Tumor staging was changed in 20 patients after EBU-TBNA, resulting in changes in assessment on tumor resectability in 5 cases.EBUS-TBNA had excellent agreement with postoperative pathology in evaluating resectability(Kappa=0.95). The sensitivity and specificity were 1.00 and 0.97, respectively.The incidence of complications of EBUS-TNBA was 6.5%.The elderly group had a worse performance status( P<0.05)compared with the control group, but the complication rates(5.7% vs 6.9%, P>0.05)were similar between the two groups. Conclusions:EBUS-TBNA is highly effective and safe in the diagnosis of NSCLC in patients aged 70 and older.