Methodist Pulmonary & Sleep Medicine Specialists physician Priya Oolut, M.D., recently performed the first endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) with fine needle aspiration biopsy in Fort Bend County.

Dr. Oolut used the EBUS technique to diagnose and stage lung cancer in a patient at Houston Methodist Sugar Land. During the procedure, a special endoscope – fitted with an ultrasound processor and a fine-gauge aspiration needle – is guided through the patient’s mouth and trachea into the lungs.

“This technique allows us to obtain real-time images in and around the lungs and to identify difficult-to-reach tumors,” says Dr. Oolut. “We can also use EBUS to biopsy tissue or fluid sample from the lungs and surrounding lymph nodes of the chest. The ultrasound serves as a guide and allows me to ‘see’ through the airway walls, which makes it easier to locate enlarged lymph nodes or masses. When the scope is in place, we pass a thin needle through it to obtain a biopsy sample.”

The typical approach to obtaining samples from the lung was surgery, which required hospitalization and lengthy recovery times. Using EBUS with fine needle aspiration, Dr. Oolut is able to quickly and thoroughly obtain samples for diagnosing and staging lung cancer, detecting infections and identifying inflammatory diseases that affect the lungs, such as sarcoidosis or other cancers like lymphoma – without an incision.

“Once a diagnosis of the lung cancer is confirmed through biopsy, the next important step in creating an appropriate treatment plan is to determine the stage of the cancer, which simply means determining how far the cancer has spread, if at all,” says Dr. Oolut. “EBUS allows me to obtain multiple samples during a single procedure so that the patient can be accurately staged without the need for surgery. This is a tremendous benefit to the patient and makes it possible for us to start treatment faster.”

“Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital has been a consistent leader in bringing the most sophisticated and complex services to Fort Bend, and our physicians are now regularly performing a number of procedures that simply weren’t possible outside of the medical center just a few years ago,” said Chris Siebenaler, Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital CEO.

Dr. Oolut is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease, critical care medicine and sleep medicine. To make an appointment with Dr. Oolut or the other physicians at Methodist Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine Specialists, call 281.325.0005 or visit methodistsugarlanddocs.com.

Learn more about Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital.