Factors Related to the Diagnostic Yield of Flexible Bronchoscopy without Guidance in Bronchoscopically Invisible Peripheral Lung Lesions

We aimed to analyze the factors predicting the diagnostic performance of flexible bronchoscopy without guidance in peripheral lung lesions that are endoscopically invisible. This was a retrospective study conducted in St. Paul's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, between January 2007 and March 2013. We included all patients who received bronchoscopy during this period. The analyzed variables were age, sex, the etiology of the lesion, lesion size, distance from the pleura, and presence of the bronchus sign. We used multiple logistic regression analysis to identify the significant independent factors associated with diagnostic yield. We included 151 patients in this study. The overall diagnostic yield was 58.3%. The sensitivity was 43.2% for malignant disease and 78.1% for benign disease. The benign lung lesions (p