Comments on "Comparative yield of transbronchial cryo-nodal biopsy, transbronchial intra-nodal forceps biopsy, and transbronchial needle aspiration for mediastinal lesions at a tertiary care center in India (COLD-FORCEPS study)".

Dear Editor, The recent study by Madan et al. provides valuable information on the utility of intranodal cryobiopsy or forceps to endobronchial ultrasound - transbronchial needle aspiration during sampling of mediastinal lymph nodes...

Comments on "Comparison of immediate withdrawal and stepwise reduction in duration of non-invasive ventilation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients presenting with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure".

Dear Editor,  The recent study published by Purohit et al. provides new evidence on the safety of immediate withdrawal of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients admitted with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF) after recovery...

Comments on "Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the bronchus: a rare early diagnosis".

Dear Editor, An article published in 2020 in this journal reported a rare case of a young medical student presenting with low grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) of central airway. Curative sleeve resection was done, with negative margins and no evidence of lymph nodal involvement. The current letter presents a 3-year follow up of the same individual and a short review of the evidence available for post-resection monitoring in such patients.

Comments on "Post-extubation high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy versus non-invasive ventilation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with hypercapnic respiratory failure".

Dear Editor, The recent study published by Ketan et al. provides emerging evidence on the expanding indications for high-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) therapy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The indications for hypoxemic respiratory failure being robust, the indications of hypercapnic respiratory failure are emerging....

Guidelines for endobronchial ultrasound-transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA): Joint Indian Chest Society (ICS)/Indian Association for Bronchology (IAB) recommendations.

Over the past decade, endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has become an indispensable tool in the diagnostic armamentarium of the pulmonologist. As the expertise with EBUS-TBNA has evolved and several innovations have occurred, the indications for its use have expanded. However, several aspects of EBUS-TBNA are still not standardized. Hence, evidence-based guidelines are needed to optimize the diagnostic yield and safety of EBUS-TBNA. For this purpose, a working group of experts from India was constituted. A detailed and systematic search was performed to extract relevant literature pertaining to various aspects of EBUS-TBNA. The modified GRADE system was used for evaluating the level of evidence and assigning the strength of recommendations. The final recommendations were framed with the consensus of the working group after several rounds of online discussions and a two-day in-person meeting. These guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations encompassing indications of EBUS-TBNA, pre-procedure evaluation, sedation and anesthesia, technical and procedural aspects, sample processing, EBUS-TBNA in special situations, and training for EBUS-TBNA.

Comments on "Clinical, radiological and histopathological profile of patients with endobronchial lesions on fibreoptic bronchoscopy" by Sarma et al.

Dear Editor, The article by Sharma et al. regarding endobronchial biopsy in 120 patients in northern India is an attempt to understand the clinical profile, etiology and pathology of the patients who presented with endobronchial findings. The article concluded that most of the population was middle-aged males with non-small cell carcinoma being the most common diagnosis. However, there are few important points to ponder and understand in the study.

Geriatric tuberculosis in India-challenges and solutions.

India has the highest burden of tuberculosis (TB) in the world. Despite a national program for control and elimination of TB, there is a lot to achieve to effectively diagnose and treat TB. One important aspect that often remains ignored is geriatric TB. This article focuses on the challenges in clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of geriatric TB along with some suggested solutions.

Utility of Elastography for Differentiating Malignant and Benign Lymph Nodes During EBUS-TBNA: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound elastography noninvasively estimates tissue hardness. Studies have evaluated elastography for differentiating malignant from benign lymph nodes during endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration. Several methods of performing elastography are described with variable diagnostic accuracy. METHODS: The aim of this study was to evaluate endobronchial ultrasound-guided elastography in differentiating malignant from benign mediastinal lymphadenopathy. We performed a systematic search of the PubMed and Embase databases to extract the relevant studies. A diagnostic accuracy meta-analysis was carried out to calculate the pooled sensitivity and specificity [with 95% confidence intervals (CIs)], and positive and negative likelihood ratios of elastography. RESULTS: After a systematic search, 20 studies (1600 patients, 2712 nodes) were selected. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of elastography were 0.90 (95% CI, 0.84-0.94) and 0.79 (95% CI, 0.73-0.84), respectively. The summary receiver operating curve demonstrated an area under the curve for elastography of 0.90 (0.88-0.93). The positive and negative likelihood ratios and the diagnostic odds ratio were 4.3 (95% CI, 3.3-5.5), 0.12 (95% CI, 0.07-0.20), and 35 (95% CI, 19-63), respectively. Of the most commonly described methods, the color classification method (type 3 malignant vs. type 1 benign) demonstrated the highest area under the curve of 0.91 (0.88-0.93). There was significant heterogeneity and publication bias. Subgroup analyses indicated no significant difference between the sensitivity and specificity of quantitative and qualitative elastography methods. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound elastography is useful in differentiating malignant and benign lymph nodes during endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration. However, elastography does not replace the requirement of lymph node aspiration.

Iron deficiency in non-anemic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a predominantly male population: an ignored entity.

Non-anemic iron deficiency has been studied in heart failure, but studies are lacking in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The potential clinical implications of association of iron deficiency with the severity of COPD warrant research in this direction. This was an observational, cross-sectional study on patients with COPD to compare disease severity, functional status and quality of life in non-anemic patients with COPD between two groups - iron deficient and non-iron deficient. Stable non-anemic COPD with no cause of bleeding were evaluated for serum iron levels, ferritin levels, TIBC, 6MWD, SGRQ, spirometry, and CAT questionnaire. The study patients were divided into iron replete (IR) and iron deficient (ID) groups. A total of 79 patients were studied, out of which 72 were men and seven were women. The mean age was 61.5±8.42 years. Of these, 36 (45.5%; 95% CI, 34.3-56.8%) had iron deficiency. Mean 6-minute-walk distance was significantly shorter in ID (354.28±82.4 meters vs 432.5±47.21 meters; p=0.001). A number of exacerbations in a year were more in ID group (p=0.003), and more patients in ID had at least two exacerbations of COPD within a year (p=0.001). However, the resting pO2, SaO2, and SpO2 levels did not differ significantly between the two groups (p=0.15 and p=0.52, respectively). Also, there was no significant difference in the distribution of patients of a different class of airflow limitations between the two groups. Non-anemic iron deficiency (NAID) is an ignored, yet easily correctable comorbidity in COPD. Patients with iron deficiency have a more severe grade of COPD, had lesser exercise capacity and more exacerbations in a year as compared to non-iron deficient patients. So, foraying into the avenue of iron supplementation, which has shown promising results in improving functional capacity in heart failure and pulmonary hypertension, may well lead to revolutionary changes in the treatment of COPD.

High flow nasal cannula in acute hypercapnic exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: an emerging utility.

High flow nasal cannula (HFNC) provides warmed and humidified air with flow rates up to 60 liters/min with relatively fixed oxygen content (FiO2). It has been extensively evaluated for hypoxemic respiratory failure and has been used in mild acute respiratory distress syndrome, pre-intubation, bronchoscopy and pediatric obstructive sleep apnea. Recent data has suggested a role in stable hypercapnic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and even in acute exacerbations, though, the use has not been advocated by any guidelines yet. We present a case of acute hypercapnic exacerbation of COPD, intolerant to non-invasive ventilation, showing response and improvement on use of HFNC. This case highlights this potential mechanisms and prospects for the same.