Is Ultrasound Fusion a Reasonable Replacement for Computed Tomography in Guiding Abdominal Interventions?
OBJECTIVE
To compare the diagnostic yield, complication rate, and procedure length of ultrasound fusion-guided liver biopsy to the diagnostic yield, complication rate, and procedure length of computed tomography (CT)-guided liver biopsy; to measure the average ionizing radiation dose that patients are exposed to during a typical CT-guided liver biopsy procedure; and to present relevant and interesting cases of ultrasound fusion-guided abdominal interventions to describe the efficacious use of the technology.


METHODS
A retrospective analysis of 63 patients who had image-guided liver biopsies performed at our institution was completed. Patient records were divided into 2 groups according to the type of image guidance used during the procedure (ultrasound fusion versus CT), and data were compared by the χ(2) test, Student t test, and Mann-Whitney U test.


RESULTS
The diagnostic yields and complication rates were not statistically significantly different between the modalities. The average procedure durations were significantly different: ultrasound fusion-guided biopsy, 31.63 minutes; compared to CT-guided biopsy, 61.67 minutes (P = .003).


CONCLUSIONS
Diagnostic yields and complication rates were comparable for ultrasound fusion and CT. However, the average procedure duration for an ultrasound fusion-guided liver biopsy was approximately half that of CT-guided liver biopsy, likely increasing both cost-effectiveness and patient satisfaction.
University Hospitals, Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio USA yasmine.ahmed@uhhospitals.org.
Yasmine
Y
Ahmed
University Hospitals, Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio USACase Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio USA.
Ronald D
RD
Novak
University Hospitals, Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio USA.
Dean
D
Nakamoto
University Hospitals, Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio USA.
Nami
N
Azar
D000005:Abdomen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061705:Image-Guided Biopsy / Q000379:methods; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional / Q000379:methods*
image-guided biopsy; interventional radiology; minimally invasive surgery; ultrasound fusion; ultrasound fusion-guided biopsy