Laser Therapy in Pulmonary Medicine

In this review, the different laser applications for diseases in the thoracic cavity are presented. The different laser types, Nd-YAG, CO₂, diode lasers and photodynamic therapy (PDT) and their indications are presented. The indications for endobronchial laser vary from benign disorders like granuloma to the more frequent ablation of endobronchial tumours. The promising use of treatment with PDT in early stage lung cancer and its adjuvant role in surgical resection of pleural malignancies is discussed. Emphasis is given to the data obtained so far for the different laser applications. Paper received 4 March 1997; accepted in final form 10 November 1997.