By RICHARD BURGER 

It’s common knowledge that the sooner some types of tumors and lesions can be accurately diagnosed, the better the chances of complete recovery. 

That’s especially true of disease in the lungs, but lungs can also be one of the most difficult areas of the body to gain access for diagnostic procedures.

The smaller the tumor, the more difficult it typically is to reach it for the biopsy required for accurate diagnosis.

Until very recently, the only way to gain that access in many instances was through invasive surgery. But that is quickly changing, thanks to advances in technology, and the most advanced technology is now available at Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center.

Tom Utigard is Regional’s Director of Respiratory Care Services. He is enthusiastic about what utilization of that technology can mean to patients he sees.

The medical term for the procedure is navigational bronchoscopy, and it is very much state-of-the-art. 

“It’s only being done in very few areas,” Utigard said.  

The benefits of using it are twofold.

First, it enables a medical technician to locate very small areas, less than two centimeters, in three dimensions.

Then that site within the lung can be marked, and a very slender probe can be accurately guided precisely where it is needed to retrieve a tissue sample.     

It is a combination of hardware and software that “really offers something to help diagnose patients quicker and more accurately,” Utigard said. “It’s a great tool.”

Bronchoscopies have been used for some time, but what makes Regional’s system better is that tumors near the outer edges on the lung can now often be reached without surgery.

Regional Pulmonary Diagnostic Specialist Kimberly Stracke explains. 

“Previously, bronchoscopies were for more centrally-located tumors, larger than two to three centimeters,” she said. 

Centrally located tumors are nearer larger passageways within the lung. Those passageways become increasingly smaller toward the edges, or periphery, of the lung. 

Effectiveness of a diagnostic procedure is measured in “diagnostic yield.” What that measurement indicates is how often a definitive diagnosis is reached.

Stracke said before the use of navigational bronchoscopies, yield was 33 percent for tumors smaller than two centimeters. With the use of the new technology, yield jumped to 69-74 percent.

“That’s a huge increase,” Stracke said. 

That increased yield is especially important because early detection of a malignancy has a profound effect on the survival rate.

Stracke said the survival rate for stage-one lung cancer, when tumors are smallest, is 88 percent after 10 years for centrally located tumors and 92 percent for peripheral tumors.

For more information residents can call 509-728-6912.