title: Single plane fluoroscopic guided biopsy of thoracic lesions.
abstract: Single plane fluoroscopic guided biopsy was performed successfully in 61 of 70 patients with thoracic lesions using inexpensive spinal needles. Lesions smaller than 2 cm and those located within 2 cm distance from vascular structures were not biopsied using this technique. Post-biopsy pneumothorax developed in 15 of the 46 biopsies of the intrapulmonary lesions. Five patients required a chest tube placement for symptomatic pneumothoraces. There were no fatalities. It is suggested that in a selected group of patients single plane fluoroscopic guided biopsy is a safe and fast method for diagnosis of a thoracic lesion.
authors.affiliation: Aga Khan University Medical Center, Karachi.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hussain
mesh_terms: D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D005471:Fluoroscopy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D013896:Thoracic Diseases / Q000473:pathology*