Serial arterial blood gas analyses were done in 18 patients before, during, and after diagnostic fiberopticbronchoscopy. Patients with marked hypoxemia or hypercapnia were excluded. An average decline in arterial oxygen pressure (Po2) of 20 mm Hg was observed following the procedure, and the alveolar-arterial oxygen tension gradient during 100% oxygen breathing widened an average of 56 mm Hg. The decline in arterial Po2 lasted from one to more than four hours after the procedure. Only one patient developed hypercapnia. The mechanisms for the arterial Po2 decline remain speculative. However, the extent and duration of arterial Po2 decline observed in this "good risk" group suggest that special precautions should be observed to avoid hypoxemia in patients undergoing fiberoptic bronchoscopy, including monitoring of arterial blood gases and administration of oxygen during and following the procedure.

No abstract

No abstract

Ten patients with endobronchial metastasis from primary breast cancer were found among 1200 fibreoptic bronchoscopies. Six of these patients had radiological signs suggesting bronchial obstruction. All the bronchoscopies were performed by us using the standard transnasal approach4 with either the Olympus BF5B2 or BFB2 fibreoptic bronchoscope. Topical anaesthesia with 1 % lignocaine was used. Atropine 0-8 mg intramuscularly was given before the procedure.Bronchial washings were collected with a standard suction trap and fixed in 50% ethyl alcohol before transport to the cytology laboratory. The method of Papanicolaou5 for fixing and staining

No abstract