Navigational Bronchoscopy Versus Transthoracic Needle Biopsy for Peripheral Lung Nodules: New Evidence from the VERITAS Trial

Highlights

• Navigational bronchoscopy demonstrated noninferior diagnostic accuracy compared to transthoracic needle biopsy for peripheral pulmonary nodules (79.0% vs. 73.6%, respectively).
• The risk of pneumothorax was markedly lower with navigational bronchoscopy (3.3%) than with transthoracic needle biopsy (28.3%).
• Hospital admissions and chest tube placements for pneumothorax were significantly less frequent following navigational bronchoscopy.
• This multicenter randomized trial provides robust evidence to guide biopsy modality selection in patients with 10–30 mm peripheral pulmonary nodules.

Clinical Background and Disease Burden