Diagnostic efficacy of CT-guided transthoracic needle biopsy and fine needle aspiration in cases of pulmonary infectious disease.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of computed-tomography (CT)-guided transthoracic needle biopsy (TNB) and fine needle aspiration (FNA) in diagnosing pulmonary infectious diseases.


METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients treated at our institution between October 2006 and September 2009 and identified 161 patients who had undergone CT-guided TNB or FNA. We conducted CT-guided TNB or FNA for the patients if bronchoscopy failed to provide proper diagnosis or if their thoracic lesions were not appropriate targets for bronchoscopy.


RESULTS
Twenty-three patients were diagnosed with pulmonary infectious diseases, of whom 17 were diagnosed by CT-guided TNB or FNA; sensitivity was therefore 73.9 % (17/23). The diagnostic rate for Aspergillus infection was especially high (75 %).


CONCLUSIONS
CT-guided TNB and FNA proved to be effective as alternative methods if bronchoscopy failed to diagnose pulmonary infectious diseases, with acceptable complication rates.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Respiratory Center, Toranomon Hospital, 2-2-2 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8470, Japan. uruga.hironori@gmail.com
Hironori
H
Uruga
Hisashi
H
Takaya
Shigeo
S
Hanada
Yuka
Y
Beika
Atsushi
A
Miyamoto
Nasa
N
Morokawa
Atsuko
A
Kurosaki
Takeshi
T
Fujii
Kazuma
K
Kishi
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000379:methods*; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055732:Pulmonary Aspergillosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D015641:Radiography, Interventional; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*