Endobronchial Ultrasonography in the Diagnosis of Sarcoidosis

September 30, 2008 updated by: University of Calgary
Sarcoidosis is a benign, inflammatory condition which will typically involve the lungs and lymph glands in the chest. Diagnosis is often confirmed with bronchoscopic biopsy. A new method of performing bronchoscopic biopsy of lymph glands in the chest has now been developed which uses real-time endobronchial ultrasonography to better locate the lymph glands. While this technique has been proven to be effective in the diagnosis and staging of lung malignancy, its sensitivity for the diagnosis of sarcoidosis is unclear as smaller samples are obtained compared to the standard approach. This study will aim to randomize 50 patients with a clinical suspicion of sarcoidosis to standard biopsy vs. endobronchial ultrasound guided biopsy of the mediastinal lymph glands in order to compare the sensitivity of these tests for sarcoidosis.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Sarcoidosis is a benign, inflammatory condition which will typically involve the lungs and mediastinal lymph nodes. The diagnosis of sarcoidosis is usually confirmed with tissue biopsy, especially if patients in whom treatment with corticosteroids is required. Asymptomatic patients not requiring treatment may not require biopsy, although this is commonly performed because of patient's preference in confirming the diagnosis and concerns about other diagnostic possibilities such as lymphoma.

Given the predilection of this disease to the chest, the lung and mediastinal lymph nodes are the most common sites for biopsy. Bronchoscopic samples are often obtained initially given their good sensitivity for this disease and low complication rates. If the diagnosis of sarcoidosis is not confirmed by bronchoscopy, more invasive surgical procedures such as mediastinoscopy or open lung biopsy may be required. As such, any improvement in the minimally invasive methods for diagnosis of this condition would be of benefit these patients and may also lead to cost efficiencies for the health care system.

Transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) with a 19 gauge "histology" needle has been the standard bronchoscopic approach to the biopsy of mediastinal lymph nodes in patients with suspected sarcoidosis. Using anatomical landmarks and computed tomography (CT) images, the TBNA needle is advanced "blindly" through the airway wall, and into the mediastinal lymph node. Because of the lack of real-time visual guidance, it is possible to miss the targeted lymph node as well as enter vascular structures with the needle system and cause bleeding.

A new method of performing TBNA has now been developed which uses real-time endobronchial ultrasonography to advance a 22 gauge needle into mediastinal lymph nodes under direct visualization (EBUS-TBNA). While this technique has been proven to be effective in the diagnosis and staging of lung malignancy, its sensitivity for the diagnosis of sarcoidosis is unclear given that larger biopsy samples are often required to make this diagnosis.

This study will aim to randomize patients with a clinical suspicion of sarcoidosis and mediastinal adenopathy undergoing bronchoscopy to TBNA vs. EBUS-TBNA in order to compare the sensitivity of these tests for sarcoidosis.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

50

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Alberta
      • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1
        • Health Sciences Centre

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

16 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT, CHILD)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • age over 16 years
  • pathological mediastinal or hilar adenopathy (over 1 cm short axis) confirmed on Computed Tomography (CT) of the chest
  • clinical/radiological diagnosis of sarcoidosis is considered likely diagnosis
  • clinical decision made by patient and treating physician to proceed to bronchoscopy

Exclusion Criteria:

  • absence of informed consent
  • uncorrected coagulopathy
  • platelets under 100
  • INR over 1.3
  • use of clopidogrel in the 7 days prior to bronchoscopy
  • medical contraindication to bronchoscopy

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: DIAGNOSTIC
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: SINGLE

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Diagnostic yield

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Complication rates
Sensitivity and specificity for Sarcoidosis
Length of Procedure
Dose of sedation required

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Calgary

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Alain Tremblay, MDCM, University Of Calgary

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2006

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

September 1, 2007

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

August 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 7, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 7, 2006

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

September 8, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

October 2, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 30, 2008

Last Verified

August 1, 2008

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • E-20269

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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