title: Comparison of CT-guided percutaneous biopsy with and without registration of prior PET/CT images to diagnose mediastinal tumors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous biopsy with and without registration of prior positron emission tomography (PET)/CT images in the diagnosis of mediastinal tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed clinically indicated percutaneous biopsy in 106 patients with mediastinal tumors in the anterior (n = 61), posterior (n = 21), middle (n = 16), and superior mediastinum (n = 8). The final diagnosis was based on surgical outcomes, or imaging findings and the results of at least 6-month follow-up. The patients underwent CT-guided percutaneous biopsy with (group 1, n = 56) or without (group 2, n = 50) registration of prior PET/CT images obtained no more than 22 days earlier. The registered images were used to plan the procedure and help target the tumors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CT-guided percutaneous needle biopsy yielded adequate samples in 101 of 106 (95 %) patients (group 1, n = 53; group 2, n = 48); in 95 patients (94 %), the diagnosis was confirmed by specific histological typing (group 1, n = 51; group 2, n = 44). The diagnostic accuracy of CT-guided percutaneous biopsy with and without the registration of prior PET/CT images was not statistically different (group 1, 96 %; group 2, 93 %, p = 0.324).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CT-guided percutaneous biopsy is an easy and safe procedure that can provide a precise diagnosis in the majority of mediastinal tumors. PET/CT-guided biopsy yielded no special diagnostic advantages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Graduate School of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, 1-1-1, Honjo, Kumamoto, 860-8505, Japan, ftst19@yahoo.co.jp.
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawanaka
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakasone
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: Seijiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Fumi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Morikatsu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shiraishi
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamashita
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000368:Aged; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D061705:Image-Guided Biopsy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008482:Mediastinum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D015641:Radiography, Interventional / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult