CORRELATION OF BRONCHOSCOPIC AND RADIOLOGICAL FINDINGS IN SUSPECTED LUNG CANCER AND ITS OUTCOME- A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Need for the study: Bronchoscopy and computed tomography of the thorax are the most common investigations utilized to screen and diagnose lung cancer. their individual utility in diagnosing lung cancer has been demonstrated by numerous studies. Studies correlating the two modalities in Indian setup are few. Hence this study will be done to analyze the bronchoscopy findings and the radiological correlation of suspected cases of lung malignancy at our tertiary care hospital, thus asses its positive predictive value.

objectives: 1. To characterize bronchoscopic findings in patients with suspected lung cancer and correlate with CT thorax  2. To analyse the histopathological findings on biopsy

Methodology: inclusion and exclusion criteria as mentioned

All patients with suspected lung carcinoma and for whom bronchoscopy is indicated, fiber optic bronchoscopy and biopsy will be done, their bronchoscopic findings will be noted. The patient will be followed up and the Histopathological examination and IHC reports will be noted. Bronchoscopic evaluation will be done by Respiratory medicine team, CT image findings will be reported by radiologists and histopathological examination will be done by pathologists at our tertiary care centre.

Statistical analysis: descriptive statistics of confirming lung carcinoma will be analyzed and summarized in terms of percentage and its 95% confidence interval will be estimated. The diagnostic yield of bronchoscopic biopsy will be done by validating with positive predictive value.