Quicker diagnosis for lung cancer sufferers

Friday 24 October 2014

Some Islanders won’t have to go to the UK anymore to get serious lung conditions diagnosed after doctors at the Hospital started using a new technique to cut delays, hassle and discomfort.

Patients can now get a quick test at the General Hospital to find out whether they have lung cancer or other lung diseases.

Two patients have already benefited from the new specialist non-surgical procedure called TBNA (Transbronchial Needle Aspiration) that the man in charge of it hopes will give around 12 Islanders a year a much better chance of getting a diagnosis than they could with just a chest scan.

The procedure takes about an hour and involves a tiny camera being fed through the patient’s nose or mouth into their lungs so that consultants can see what is going on in the lymph nodes and can take tiny samples using a very fine needle.

The test can spot whether a patient has lung cancer and what stage it is at so that they can be given the right treatment.

The Hospital’s Respiratory Consultant Dr Hamdi Amar said: “The procedure is very safe and although it is a little uncomfortable for the patient, who is under twilight sedation, it means there is no need for a surgical operation, known as a Mediastinoscopy, and no need for general anaesthetic.

“There’s a very low incidence of complication. It is recommended by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to be used as a useful diagnostic tool and we’re pleased to be able to offer it to Jersey patients.”

TBNA is carried out in the Bronchoscopy suite at the Hospital and patients can go home the same day.

Once Dr Amar and his team have performed the procedure at least ten times they plan to publish their results in medical journals.