OPEN LUNG BIOPSY.

Steady improvement in the diagnostic appraisal of obscure pulmonary and mediastinal disease has permitted more intelligent treatment, better prognosis, and where necessary more accurate assessment of compensability. Open lung biopsy is designed to obtain material for pathological study when there is no pleural, mediastinal, or airway lesion on which to base a working diagnosis.A study of 54 patients in whom lung biopsy was performed at the Toronto General Hospital and Weston Sanatorium is reported. A positive tissue diagnosis was obtained in approximately 75%. The procedure is considered relatively innocuous if sensible selection is exercised to exclude patients with terminal disease, particularly that associated with severe cardiorespiratory insufficiency. No major complications occurred in this series. It is concluded that open lung biopsy might reasonably receive much wider application than in the past in cases in which a definite diagnosis cannot otherwise be made.