Original Article


Efficacy and safety of ultrasound (US) guided percutaneous needle biopsy for peripheral lung or pleural lesion: comparison with computed tomography (CT) guided needle biopsy

Norio Yamamoto, Tetsuya Watanabe, Kazuhiro Yamada, Toshiyuki Nakai, Tomohiro Suzumura, Kazuki Sakagami, Naoki Yoshimoto, Kanako Sato, Hidenori Tanaka, Shigeki Mitsuoka, Kazuhisa Asai, Tatsuo Kimura, Hiroshi Kanazawa, Kazuto Hirata, Tomoya Kawaguchi

Abstract

Background: Ultrasound (US)-guided percutaneous needle biopsy is a useful diagnostic technique with short examination time and real-time monitoring at the bedside. However, there are only a few studies that report on thoracic lesions, whereas the computed tomography (CT)-guided biopsy is well established. There is also limited data comparing US- and CT-guided biopsy. We aimed to clarify the efficacy and safety of US-guided biopsy for thoracic lesions adjacent to the chest wall.
Methods: We retrospectively enrolled consecutive patients who underwent US- or CT-guided percutaneous biopsies for thoracic lesions adjacent to the chest wall between April 2012 and December 2017. Clinical characteristics, lesion size, lesion-pleura contact arc length (LPCAL), diagnostic rate, and complications were compared between the 2 groups.
Results: This study enrolled 61 US-guided and 70 CT-guided biopsies. No significant difference was found in age or sex. The lesion size and LPCAL in the US-guided group were significantly larger than those in the CT-guided group (P<0.0001). The diagnostic rate was marginally higher in the US-guided group (93.4%) than in the CT-guided group (84.3%) (P=0.101). When the median cut-off of the LPCAL was defined as 40 mm in all cases, the diagnostic rate for lesion size >40 mm was significantly higher in the US-guided group than in the CT-guided group (P=0.009). Complication rates were significantly lower in the US-guided group (3.3%) than in the CT-guided group (24.3%) (P<0.001).
Conclusions: US-guided percutaneous needle biopsy for thoracic lesions adjacent to the chest wall is a feasible technique compared with CT-guided biopsy because of its higher diagnostic rate with a longer LPCAL and reduced complications.

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