Safety and diagnostic yield of thoracic ultrasound-assisted transthoracic biopsy performed by a pulmonologist

Abstract

BackgroundTransthoracic ultrasonography (US) is still not utilized to its full potential by respiratory physicians, despite being a well-established and validated imaging modality. It allows for an immediate and mobile assessment that can potentially augment the physical examination of the chest. This work aims to assess safety and diagnostic yield of thoracic US-assisted transthoracic biopsy performed by a pulmonologist . Patients and methods The present study was conducted upon 75 patients who are referred to the Pulmonary Medicine Department, Ain Shams University Hospitals with radiological assessment that reveals pleural-based mass with or without pleural effusion, anterior mediastinal mass, peripheral lung lesions or chest wall lesions. The present study was conducted upon 75 (67 male and 8 female) patients with mean±SD age 58.8±15.64.ResultsThis study showed that 31 cases were presented by peripheral pulmonary mass, 29 pleural lesions, nine mediastinal and six chest wall lesions, 57 of them diagnosed by sonar guided biopsy, 51 of them were malignant and the remaining six were benign.ConclusionTransthoracic US-assisted cutting-needle biopsy is an excellent first-line diagnostic tool for pleural-based lesions of at least 3 cm in diameter. It is a quick, low-cost, safe and well-tolerated tool in the hands of pulmonologists and has a high sensitivity for pleural-based malignancies.