Efficient and safe method in the diagnosis of thoracic lesions: Ultrasound‑guided needle aspiration biopsy

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of fine‑needle aspirationbiopsy (FNAB) performed under the guidance of thoracic ultrasonography (USG) for the diagnosisof thoracic lesions such as peripheral lung lesions, pleural lesions, mediastinal lesions, and chestwall or supraclavicular metastases of lung lesions.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cases with thoracic lesions that were found eligible for biopsy bythoracic USG and underwent FNAB between January 2008 and December 2016 were includedin the study. Demographical characteristics and radiological findings of the cases, lesion size asdetected by USG, sonographic patterns, number of FNABs per lesion, diagnosis based on FNAB,final diagnosis of inconclusive cases and the methods used to establish the final diagnosis, anddeveloped complications were recorded.RESULTS: FNAB was performed for peripheral lung lesion in 188 (72.6%), mediastinal mass in23 (8.9%), chest wall metastasis of lung tumor in 23 (8.9%), supraclavicular lymph node metastasisof lung tumor in 18 (6.9%), and pleural lesion in 7 (2.7%) cases. The corresponding diagnosticaccuracy was 78.7%, 78.2%, 95.6%, 94.4% and 85.7%, respectively. A diagnosis could be madein 211 (81.4%) of 259 cases (195 [92.4%] malignant and 16 [7.6%] benign). The overall diagnosticsuccess of the procedure was 81.4%, and the success rate to diagnose malignant and benign lesionswas 81.9% and 76.1%, respectively. Pneumothorax which needs pleural tube in placement was seenin five patients, with peripheral lesion as the major complication.CONCLUSION: USG‑guided FNAB performed for thoracic lesions is associated with a high rate ofdiagnostic success (81.4%) and a low rate of major complications (1.9%).