Table 1. Main characteristics of the enrolled studies.
| Study (first author) | Pro/retro | Patients selection | Participants, n (M/F) | Mean age (years) | No. of lung nodules | Mean diameter (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Becker, 2005 (18) | Pro | PPL beyond the field of FB, regardless of lesion size | 30 (23/7) | 65.00 | 30 | 39.8 |
| Hautmann, 2005 (17) | Pro | PPL beyond the field of FB | 16 (10/6) | 63.70 | 16 | ND |
| Gildea, 2006 (19) | Pro | PPL difficult to reach with standard bronchoscopic technique | 58 (35/23) | 67.91 | 54 | 22.8 |
| Schwarz, 2006 (20) | Pro | PPL beyond the field of FB, regardless of lesion size | 13 | ND | 13 | 33.5 |
| Wilson, 2007 (21) | Retro | PPL difficult to reach using a standard bronchoscopic approach | 222 (112/110) | 63.1. | 271 | 21.0 |
| Makris, 2007 (24) | Pro | PPL located beyond the visible range of FB; suspicion of cancer by CT/PET scan; suggestive malignancy, after TTNA and MLN-TBNA, high-risk surgery | 40 (30/10) | 60.00 | 25 | 23.5 |
| Eberhardt, 2007 (23) | Pro | PPL beyond the field of FB | 89 (50/39) | 67.00 | 93 | 24.0 |
| Eberhardt, 2007 (a) (22) | Pro | PPL beyond the field of FB | 39 (20/19) | 55.00 | 39 | 28.0 |
| Eberhardt, 2007 (b) (22) | Pro | PPL beyond the field of FB | 40 (25/15) | 51.00 | 40 | 24.0 |
| Bertoletti, 2009 (25) | Pro | PET-positive PPL beyond the field of FB, high-risk surgery | 54 (47/7) | 67.00 | 54 | 31.2 |
| Lamprecht, 2009 (26) | Retro | PPL beyond the field of FB and/or too small to be visible on fluoroscopy | 13 (10/3) | 64.20 | 13 | 30.0 |
| Eberhardt, 2010 (27) | Pro | Referral for small PPL suggestive of malignancy | 54 (40/14) | 65.10 | 55 | 23.3 |
| Seijo, 2010 (28) | Pro | PPL, straightforward surgery or TTNA deemed suboptimal | 51 (37/14) | 62.00 | 51 | 25.0 |
| Mahajan, 2011 (29) | Retro | PPL beyond the field of FB, high-risk surgery | 48 | ND | 49 | 20.0 |
| Brownback, 2012 (13) | Retro | PPL not accessible by conventional bronchoscopy | 55 (33/22) | 63.00 | 55 | 30.0 |
| Jensen, 2012 (14) | Retro | 20 consecutive performed ENB cases in 5 institutions | 92 (44/48) | 67.00 | 92 | 26.1 |
| Lamprecht, 2012 (30) | Pro | PPL beyond the field of FB, located in the peripheral third of the chest, endobronchially invisible, too small to be visible for fluoroscopy | 112 (75/37) | 66.70 | 112 | 27.0 |
| Pearlstein, 2012 (31) | Retro | PPL suggestive of malignancy based on CT/PET, unsuitable for TTNA, high-risk surgery, no other available biopsy site | 101 (62/39) | 69.00 | 101 | 28.0 |
| Loo, 2014 (7) | Retro | Patients with suspected PLL | 40 (12/28) | 67.00 | 50 | 26.0 |
| Bowling, 2015 (15) | Retro | Patients with suspected cancer based on clinical history and radiographic abnormalities | 107 (60/47) | 67.00 | 120 | ND |
Pro, prospective; Retro, retrospective; PPL, peripheral pulmonary lesions; FB, flexible bronchoscopy; MLN-TBNA, mediastinal lymph node transbronchial needle aspiration; TTNA, transthoracic needle aspiration; ND, no data available.