Chest
-
Pleural biopsy using either video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery or medical pleuroscopy is the current diagnostic criterion standard for pleural pathology with a high, yet imperfect, diagnostic yield. Cryobiopsy may provide greater tissue, increase depth of sampled tissue, and/or reduce crush artifact. However, its impact on diagnostic yield remains uncertain, and there are potential concerns regarding its safety too. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the same. ⋯ Based on analysis of relatively homogenous observational data, pleural cryobiopsy is safe but does not increase diagnostic yield over flexible forceps biopsy. Adequately powered multicenter randomized trials are needed for further investigation.