Radiological tips on safe tract selection in computed tomography-guided transthoracic biopsy: single-center results

Abstract

Introduction: The vast majority of lung masses are malignant. Benign lung masses include granulomatous inflammation and pneumonia consolidations. Malignant lung masses include lung cancers, lymphoma, and thymic neoplasms. Differentiating benign-malignant lung masses and treatment planning are essential for the prognosis of patients. Computed tomography (CT) guided transthoracic lung biopsy is a reliable diagnostic method with high accuracy and relatively few complications when an appropriate trace is selected. In this study, we aimed to present our experience and the results of lung mass cases that we biopsied with the guidance of CT. Methods: A total of 57 patients who were referred to us for clinicoradiological transthoracic biopsy (TTB) were studied with CT-guided histopathological sampling. The study did not include patients with no pathology results and ultrasound-guided biopsy. Results: A total of 57 patients, 42 male (73.6%) and 15 female (26.4%) with a mean age of 59.05±17.04 (1-85), were evaluated. Thirteen of the lesions were reported as benign (22.8%), and 44 as malignant (77.2%). Conclusion: When an appropriate trace is selected, CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy is a reliable diagnostic method with high accuracy and relatively few complications.

Keywords

• computed tomography
• lung cancer
• lung masses
• transthoracic biopsy