On 36 patients with diffuse lung diseases including idiopathic interstitial pneumonia, sarcoidosis, pneumoconiosis, rheumatoid arthritis and so-called disseminated eosinophilic collagen disease etc., forty transbronchial lung biopsies have been performed by means as previously described. Specimens were taken from two or three segments of one lung in most of the patients.
Twenty nine of 36 patients had definite roentgenologic evidence of diffuse pulmonary diseases, but in other 7 casses chest x-ray showed almost normal finding, though we could suspect of the presence of histopathological changes in their lungs because of their systemic involvement.
(1) The size of a specimen on an average was appoximately 1.0×2.0mm, and it was found that specimens were larger in the biopsy without bronchography than in the one with bronchography (Shibayama et al., 1970) as our experimental study (cf. part 1). So we performed the biopsy without bronchography later.
(2) Biopsies of 22 cases in 36 casses were useful for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. We believe that diagnosis may be possible in many cases with the aid of all the clinical data.
(3) There were seven cases in which biopsy specimens disclosed pulmonary lesions histologically, though their chest x-rays were almost normal, showing that of the method may contribute to an early diagnosis.
(4) Only one complication, pneumothorax, was encountered among the 36 patients. Occasionaly and, transient bllody sputa were observed after biopsy, but they were minimal and negligible.
(5) Better biopsy forcep is hoped to be designed which is possible to penetrate the bronchus or bronchiole more easily and with greater certainty for obtaining pulmonary tissue.
