Objective: To determine accuracy of the clinical/radiological evaluation for diffuse pulmonary infiltrates compared with the pathological result of the surgical lung biopsy (SLB) and to evaluate the need for the latter in this setting. Methods: SLB was performed in 93 consecutive patients with diffuse interstitial lung diseases during the period from November 2002 to March 2008, through VATS in 53 patients or minithoracotomy in 40 patients. The presumptive diagnosis was based on clinical, radiological and non-invasive or minimally invasive diagnostic procedures and compared with the gold standard of histological diagnosis by SLB |
