All-shot Aspirations in Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) Are Associated With Malignancy

Background: Aspirations without a tissue core are common in endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration procedures. However, the diagnostic value of all-shot aspirations and no-tissue-core aspirations is unclear. Patients and Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients who underwent endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration with the description of all-shot or no-tissue-core aspirations was conducted at a tertiary hospital between January 2017 and March 2021. Patients’ pathologic and clinical diagnoses were retrieved and compared between all-shot patients (all aspirations had a tissue core) and no-tissue-core patients (at least one aspiration had no tissue core). Results: Among all 505 patients with 1402 aspirations, 356 (70.5%) patients, and 1184 (84.5%) aspirations were all-shot. Pathologic diagnosis after endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration revealed neoplasms in 46.1% of all-shot patients, but 33.6% of no-tissue-core patients (odds ratio, 1.69; 95% confidence interval, 1.14-2.52; P  = .009). Final clinical diagnosis revealed malignancy in 53.1% of all-shot patients, but 37.6% of no-tissue-core patients (odds ratio, 1.88; 95% confidence interval, 1.27-2.78; P  = .001). In 133 patients with pathologic nonspecific findings, a clinical diagnosis of malignancy was proven in 25 of 79 (31.6%) of all-shot patients, but only 6 of 54 (11.1%) of no-tissue-core patients (odds ratio, 3.70; 95% confidence interval, 1.40-9.79; P  = .006). Conclusions: Patients with all-shot aspirations in endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration are more likely to have the pathologic and clinical diagnosis of malignancy. More measures should be taken to exclude malignancy in all-shot patients when the endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration was nondiagnostic.