Journal of bronchology & interventional pulmonology
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J Bronchology Interv Pulmonol · Apr 2012
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyA comparison of the diagnostic yield of rigid and semirigid thoracoscopes.
Medical thoracoscopy has an important place in the diagnosis and management of pleural disease. However, the application of this procedure is limited in the United Kingdom. This may be partly because respiratory physicians remain unfamiliar with standard rigid thoracoscopy instruments. ⋯ Statistically, this difference was not significant (95% confidence intervals, -0.11 to 0.17). Our study demonstrates that the semirigid thoracoscope achieves a diagnostic yield similar to that of the conventional rigid instrument despite the smaller biopsy size. Both instruments remain valuable in the evaluation and management of pleural disease.