Bronchoscopic examination is an essential tool for diagnosis and treatment of the lung cancer. Various methods with bronchoscopy are possible, such as cytologic examination (washing, brushing, bronchoalveolar lavage and transbronchial needle aspiration), mucosal biopsy and transbronchial lung biopsy.
There are many reports on the bronchial washing cytology, but there were few reports on the relations between bronchial washing cytology and other various parameters(age, sex, celltype, bronchoscopic location and shape of lesion).
To evaluate the relationships between washing cytologic yield, age, sex, celltype, bronchoscopic location and shape of lesion in lung cancer, we have studied in 189 patients(males 170, females 19； ages, mean 60.7yrs) with histologically proven lung cancer who showed direct signs of lung cancer bronchoscopically. All cases were collected washing cytology specimens simultaneously.
：There were no singificant relationships between age and washing cytology positivity, celltype or bronchoscopic shape of lesion, between sex and washing cytologic positivity, bronchoscopic location or shape of lesion, There was significant relationship between sex and celltype, that is, NSCLC in male vs SCLC in female. There were no significant relationships between cytology positivity and celltype, bronchoscopic location or shape of lesion.
There was significant realtionship between celltype and bronchoscopic location of lesion, that is, squamous and SCLC in both upper lobes vs adenocarcinoma in RLL. There was no significant relationship between bronchoscopic location and shape of lesion, but significant between celltype and shape of lesion. (mass in squamous vs non-mass in SCLC).
In conclusion, lung cancer has more prevalent in older males than females and both upper lobes, and squamous cell carcinoma has more mass-shaped and SCLC has more infiltrated lesion bronchoscopically. The cytologic positivity was not depended on the bronchoscopic shape of lesion.
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