Intraoperative ultrasound during thoracoscopic procedures for solitary pulmonary nodules.
BACKGROUND
Traditional nonoperative diagnostic approaches to the solitary pulmonary nodule (bronchoscopy and percutaneous needle biopsy) can be inconclusive. Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) provides a minimally invasive way to diagnose and treat these nodules. We evaluated the use of a dedicated intraoperative ultrasound probe as an aid in localization of small pulmonary nodules during VATS.


METHODS
An intraoperative ultrasound examination during a thoracoscopic procedure was performed on 18 patients to localize deep pulmonary nodules less than 20 mm in diameter without a definitive diagnosis by preoperative imaging techniques.


RESULTS
In the 18 patients, all nodules were successfully identified by intraoperative ultrasound. A definitive pathologic diagnosis was obtained from thoracoscopic biopsy or resection. The final diagnoses were primary lung cancer in 5 patients, metastatic lesions in 4 patients, hamartoma or chondroma in 4, granuloma in 3, and interstitial fibrosis in 2 patients.


CONCLUSIONS
In our experience, intraoperative ultrasound can safely and effectively localize invisible or nonpalpable pulmonary nodules at the time of thoracoscopy. This may help surgeons perform minimally invasive lung resections with clear surgical margins.
Clinica Chirurgica and Istituto di Chirurgia Generale e Oncologia Chirurgica, Università di Milano, Ospedale San Paolo, Milan, Italy. r.sant@imiucca.csi.unimi.it
R
R
Santambrogio
M
M
Montorsi
P
P
Bianchi
A
A
Mantovani
F
F
Ghelma
M
M
Mezzetti
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D004724:Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D003074:Solitary Pulmonary Nodule / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014741:Video Recording