Hiroaki Nagamine, Midori Bungo, Yuichiro Nagaki, Akira Todoriki, Kohei Niina, Koji Enomoto, Shigeki Kakuno, Toshiyuki Nakai, Kazuhiro Yamada, Tetsuya Watanabe, Kazuhisa Asai, Daiki Mukai, Joji Nagasaki, Hirohisa Nakamae, Tomoya Kawaguchi
Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is a minimally invasive technique for sampling mediastinal lesions but may be inadequate for diagnosing lymphoma because of limited tissue acquisition. We report a case of T-lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL) successfully diagnosed using endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial mediastinal cryobiopsy (EBUS-Cryo). An 18-year-old woman presented with an anterior mediastinal mass causing severe tracheal compression. EBUS-TBNA followed by EBUS-Cryo using a 1.1-mm cryoprobe was performed under endotracheal intubation without complications. Although EBUS-TBNA specimens were nondiagnostic because of crush artefacts and blood contamination, EBUS-Cryo yielded well-preserved tissue, enabling comprehensive immunohistochemical evaluation and a definitive diagnosis of T-LBL. This case demonstrates that EBUS-Cryo can provide sufficient tissue for diagnosing mediastinal T-LBL and may be safely performed in carefully selected patients, even in the presence of substantial airway compression.