title: Use of ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle biopsy in the diagnosis of mediastinal tumors.
abstract: We herein report the usefulness of ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle biopsy for histological diagnosis in 18 patients with mediastinal tumors. Computed tomography revealed these tumors to be in contact with the chest wall. The preoperative diagnosis was thymoma in 7 patients, germinoma in 5, neurogenic tumor in 3, and "other" in 3. The most commonly encountered indication for an ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle biopsy was an anterior mediastinal lesion (78%; 14 of 18 patients). In 16 (89%) of the 18 patients, the biopsy diagnosis corresponded to the postoperative diagnosis. No complications were encountered in any of the patients. This new technique of ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle biopsy is both relatively simple and highly accurate and may thus be useful for outpatients. Preoperative ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle biopsy is thus considered to be a safe and reliable method for the histological diagnosis of mediastinal tumors, and a good alternative to traditional biopsy techniques such as mediastinoscopy or thoracotomy.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Surgery, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Otani
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohtaki
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morishita
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000379:methods*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D018237:Germinoma / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D008482:Mediastinum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013945:Thymoma / Q000473:pathology; D014463:Ultrasonography