Chest computed tomography (CT) immediately after CT-guided transthoracic needle aspiration biopsy as a predictor of overt pneumothorax.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined the correlation between pneumothorax detected by immediate post-transthoracic needle aspiration-biopsy (TTNB) chest computed tomography (CT) and overt pneumothorax detected by chest PA, and investigated factors that might influence the correlation.


METHODS
Adult patients who had undergone CT-guided TTNB for lung lesions from May 2003 to June 2007 at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital were included. Immediate post-TTNB CT and chest PA follow-up at 4 and 16 hours after CT-guided TTNB were performed in 934 patients.


RESULTS
Pneumothorax detected by immediate chest CT (CT-pneumothorax) was found in 237 (25%) and overt pneumothorax was detected by chest PA follow-up in 92 (38.8%) of the 237 patients. However, overt pneumothorax was found in 18 (2.6%) of the 697 patients without CT-pneumothorax. The width and depth of CT-pneumothorax were predictive risk factors for overt pneumothorax.


CONCLUSIONS
CT-pneumothorax is very sensitive for predicting overt pneumothorax, and the width and depth on CT-pneumothorax are reliable risk factors for predicting overt pneumothorax.
Noh
Tae June
TJ
Division of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and Lung Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
Chang Hoon
CH
Kang
Young Ae
YA
Kwon
Sung-Youn
SY
Yoon
Ho-Il
HI
Kim
Tae Jung
TJ
Lee
Kyung Won
KW
Lee
Jae Ho
JH
Lee
Choon-Taek
CT
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013909:Thorax / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*