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Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Nov 16, 2025; 13(32): 111525
Published online Nov 16, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i32.111525
Atypical sarcoidosis diagnosed using endobronchial ultrasound-guided mediastinal lymph node biopsy with fine biopsy forceps: Two case reports
Wen-Xuan Yu, Feng-Fu Zhan, Ping-Yang Hong, Mao-Hong Huang, Yi-Yuan Chen, Yi-Li Lin, Xiao-Bin Zhang
Wen-Xuan Yu, Feng-Fu Zhan, Ping-Yang Hong, Mao-Hong Huang, Yi-Yuan Chen, Yi-Li Lin, Xiao-Bin Zhang, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, Fujian Province, China
Wen-Xuan Yu, Feng-Fu Zhan, Ping-Yang Hong, Mao-Hong Huang, Yi-Li Lin, Xiao-Bin Zhang, The School of Clinical Medicine, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350122, Fujian Province, China
Co-first authors: Wen-Xuan Yu and Feng-Fu Zhan.
Author contributions: Yu WX and Zhan FF contributed to the collection and assembly of data; they contributed equally to this manuscript and are co-first authors; Yu WX and Hong PY contributed to data analysis and interpretation; Yu WX and Zhang XB contributed to conception and design; Yu WX, Huang MH, Chen YY, Lin YL and Zhang XB contributed to manuscript writing and final approval of the manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82170103; Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province, No. 2024J011325; Young People Training Project from Fujian Province Health Bureau, No. 2020GGB057 and No. 2023QNB008; and Xiamen Medical and Health Guidance Project, No. 3502Z20224ZD1060, No. 3502Z20214ZD1043, and No. 3502Z20224ZD1058.
Informed consent statement: Consent to publish the identifying images or other personal or clinical details of participants has been obtained from both patients.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Bin Zhang, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital Xiamen University, No. 201-209 Hubinnan Road, Siming District, Xiamen 361004, Fujian Province, China. zhangxiaobincn@xmu.edu.cn
Received: July 2, 2025
Revised: July 25, 2025
Accepted: October 14, 2025
Published online: November 16, 2025
Processing time: 133 Days and 10.2 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: This report highlights the diagnostic value of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial forceps biopsy (EBUS-TBFB) for atypical sarcoidosis. In two asymptomatic cases with non-specific imaging mimicking malignancy, conventional EBUS-guided fine-needle aspiration yielded inconclusive cytology. By contrast, EBUS-TBFB - using a 1.2-mm forceps via the same puncture site - obtained larger histological samples (≥ 3 mm), confirming non-caseating granulomas. This technique overcomes transbronchial needle aspiration’s limitations for benign diseases, improving diagnostic accuracy and guiding critical management decisions: Observation for localized disease (Case 1) or timely immunosuppression for systemic involvement (Case 2). EBUS-TBFB is a promising tool for radiologically ambiguous sarcoidosis.