Techniques in human airway inflammation - Quantity and morphology of bronchial biopsy specimens taken by forceps of three sizes

Background: In recent years, fiberoptic bronchoscopy has been introduced successfully in the research of bronchial asthma. Bronchial biopsy specimens obtained by this procedure are small, and an optimal biopsy technique is necessary to obtain high-quality tissue samples, as sufficient length of intact basement membrane and sufficient depth of submucosal tissue are required. Methods: We compared size and qualitative aspects of bronchial biopsy specimens from nonasthmatic subjects, obtained by forceps of three different sizes, types FB-19C, FB-21C, and FB-35C (Olympus; Tokyo, Japan). Results and conclusions: We conclude from this study that the hypothesis that the bigger the biopsy forceps, the larger the biopsy specimen and the better the quality of time tissue does not hold. Bronchial biopsy specimens obtained with forceps type FB-35C and FB-21C were equal in size, but the FB-35C biopsy specimens showed more damage and crush artifacts, whereas biopsy specimens obtained with forceps type FB-21C had more intact basement membrane, more submucosal depth, and well-preserved morphology.