Background: The present study was aimed to evaluate the role and safety of surgical lung biopsies (SLB) in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) in China.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of 418 patients with ILD undergoing SLB from Chinese literature and the data of our hospital during the past ten years was performed.
Results: A total of 418 cases underwent SLB, including open lung biopsy (OLB) in 229 cases and video-assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy (VATLB) in 189 cases. SLB yielded a specific diagnosis for 88.0% cases, and unclassifiable idiopathic interstitial pneumonia diagnosis was seen in 9.1% cases. The total postoperative complication rate was 12.0% and mortality rate was 1.9%. The diagnostic yield, post-operative complication rate, and mortality rate between VATLB and OLB had no significant difference.
Conclusion: SLB is a very useful and relatively safe procedure for diagnosis of ILD.