Interventional Pulmonology and Esophagus: Combined Endobronchial Ultrasound and Endoscopic Ultrasound for Mediastinal Staging

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) techniques and endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) can lead to diagnosis and complete, accurate staging of the mediastinum in a single session. This allows for decreased health care costs, a minor delay in diagnosis and treatment, reduced patient discomfort, and reduced morbidity compared with invasive surgical staging techniques. Moreover, compared with EBUS alone, combined EUS and EBUS have significantly increased yield and diagnostic sensitivity making a combined approach preferable as the emerging gold-standard technique for initial minimally invasive mediastinal staging. The study discusses the advantages of using EUS in combination with EBUS and highlights strategies, lymph node landmarks, utility in staging and restaging the mediastinum, roles in diagnosing mediastinal infections and granulomatous lesions, and future directions in endosonography.