title: Age as a risk factor in the occurrence of pneumothorax after transthoracic fine needle biopsy: our experience.
abstract: Transthoracic needle biopsy (TTNB) of the lung is a well-established technique for diagnosing many thoracic lesions, and is an important alternative to more invasive surgical procedures. Complications of TTNB include pneumothorax, hemoptysis, hemothorax, infection, and air embolism, with the most common complication as pneumothorax. From June 2011 to June 2014 we performed a prospective study of 188 patients who underwent TTNB with CT guidance at University Hospital of Salerno, Italy. Pneumothorax occurred in 14 of 188 biopsies (7.45%). With the respect of age of patients pneumothorax occurred more frequently in patients aged 60-70 years, while it was less frequent in younger (<60 years) and older patients (>70 years). In conclusion, data of our prospective study documented that CT-guided TTNB is a safe and reliable procedure in elderly patients with suspected chest malignancy and is well tolerated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Section of Respiratory Disease, University of Salerno, Italy. Electronic address: avatrella@unisa.it.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vatrella
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Section of Respiratory Disease, University of Salerno, Italy. Electronic address: agalderisi@hotmail.it.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galderisi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Section of Respiratory Disease, University of Salerno, Italy. Electronic address: carminenicoletta1983@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Carmine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nicoletta
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Section of Respiratory Disease, University of Salerno, Italy. Electronic address: angelantonio.maglio@icloud.com.
authors.forename: Angelantonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maglio
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Section of Respiratory Disease, University of Salerno, Italy. Electronic address: ancortese@unisa.it.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cortese
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Pathology "Gaetano Barresi", University of Messina, Italy. Electronic address: vdcres@alice.it.
authors.forename: Rosa Maria
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Di Crescenzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Pathology "Gaetano Barresi", University of Messina, Italy. Electronic address: calaienco@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ieni
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Section of Respiratory Disease, University of Salerno, Italy. Electronic address: acrisci@unisa.it.
authors.forename: Antonello
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Crisci
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Section of Respiratory Disease, University of Salerno, Italy. Electronic address: vdicrescenzo@unisa.it.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Di Crescenzo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D061705:Image-Guided Biopsy / Q000009:adverse effects; D007558:Italy; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000209:etiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Computed tomography; Elderly; Pneumothorax; Transthoracic needle biopsy