COMPARATIVE STUDY OF COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) AND FIBEROPTIC BRONCHOSCOPY IN DIAGNOSIS OF CANCER IN PATIENTS WITH HEMOPTYSIS

Ravi Bhaskar, *Seema Singh, Pooja Singh, Sanchit Tiwari, Amit Bhagat

ABSTRACT

Background: Computed chest tomography (CT) is a widely available roentgenographic procedure that is often performed in the evaluation of patients with the unexplained thoracic disease. Objectives: A prospective study was performed to compare results of computed tomography (CT) and Fiberoptic bronchoscopy in the diagnosis of cancer in hemoptysis patients. Methods: A total of 50 patients with hemoptysis underwent thin-section CT and Fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Results: Subjected patients presenting with complaints of hemoptysis were enrolled in the study. In the present study, CECT revealed a high burden of carcinoma (33) followed by bronchiectasis (13). In one case peripherally located mass and in another mediastinal mass was observed. Remaining 2 cases were found to be normal. In their CT study of 16 patients, none of the cases were found to have malignancy. It was found that bronchiectasis was more common in young age group (50 years). Conclusion: The initial examination should be bronchoscopy when there is high clinical suspicion of carcinoma and relevant radiographic abnormality, and CT when strong clinical suspicion of carcinoma is not substantiated at bronchoscopy in patients with normal findings on chest radiographs.

Keywords: CT, Fiberoptic bronchoscopy, hemoptysis, lung cancer.