Abstract:
Introduction : Respiratory diseases are the second leading cause of hospitalization and is a significant cause of morbidity
and mortality in Sri Lanka.
Objective: To describe the pathology of bronchial and pleural biopsies in patients referred to a tertiary chest clinic in
Sri Lanka. .
Method: This retrospective study included 127 patients subjected to bronchial or pleural biopsy at the Chest Clinic
Kalutara, from January 1998 to April 2000. Histology slides were reviewed at a conference microscope. The clinical
details were obtained from the clinic files.
Results: There were 101 bronchial and 26 pleural biopsies. Twenty five (19.7 %) had neoplasms, all seen in bronchial
biopsies. These comprised 11 squamous, 8 adeno, 5 poorly differentiated non-small cell and one adenoidcystic carcinoma.
Of the non-neoplastic group 20 (15.7 %)had pneumonia and its complications. Eighteen (14.2 %) had biopsy confirmed
tuberculosis, of these 14 were in pleural biopsies and 4 in bronchial biopsies. Other lesions included fibrosis with
chronic inflammation 4 (3.1%), interstitial fibrosis 4 (3.1 Ufo), fungal infections 3 (2.4%) and chronic inflammation 16
(12.6%). Twenty (15.7 %) had non-diagnostic biopsies and normal lung was seen in 17 (13.4%) cases.
Conclusion: Neoplasms were the most commonly encountered lesion in our study. However non-neoplastic conditions
were also an important cause of morbidity in this group of patients.
