The future of surgical lung biopsy: moving from the operating room to the bronchoscopy suite

: Assessment of patients with suspected interstitial lung disease includes a complete work-up consisting of history and physical examination, laboratory studies, lung function testing, high-resolution CT scan, bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage, and cardiology workup. Presently, definitive diagnosis of interstitial lung disease is even more important because of newly available therapeutics. The high risk/benefit ratio perceived in the...