[Daniels' prescalenic biopsy in the diagnosis of pulmonary sarcoidosis].

Prescalene biopsy according to Daniels has proved an excellent method for the histological detection of pulmonary sarcoidosis. Cooperation over a period of 15 years between the ear, nose and throat division of the Bassini Hospital, Milan, and the Lombardy Provincial Anti-TB Consortia (especially that of Milan) led to the performance of 533 biopsies in about 1700 cases with morphological and radiological pictures indicative of pulmonary sarcoidosis. Overall positivity was 81%. The disease has five radiological stages: I, I + II, II, II + III, and III. Patients with hilo-mediastinal polyadenopathy predominated numerically. Histological positivity greater in group A (stages I & I + II), i.e. 86%, 74% in group B (stage II), and 60% in group C (stages II + III, and III). The dependence of positivity on stage was further confirmed when series from different consortia were compared. Stress is laid on the high productivity of the method, its low risk, and its ready application to patients usually in apparently good health, following their detection by mass screening or general pneumological examinations.