Diagnostic accuracy of percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy among peripheral pulmonary lesions: a multicenter observational study

• Published in: Annals of medicine and surgery Vol. 86; no. 10; pp. 5762 - 5766
• Main Authors: Basiri, Reza, Sharifnezhad, Farzad, Jafarian, Amir H, Samadi, Sara, Zarghi, Amirreza
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 01-10-2024
• Subjects: Original Research; percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy; pulmonary lesion; CT scan
• ISSN: 2049-0801; 2049-0801
• DOI: 10.1097/MS9.0000000000002539

The diagnosis of peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPL) poses a significant challenge, prompting the widespread utilization of various modalities to ensure the precision in diagnosis. This study aims to assess the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (CT-PTNB) in the context of pulmonary malignancy.
This multicenter retrospective observational study, included 1317 cases of CT-PTNB performed on adult patients with PPLs from January 2018 to December 2022 in Mashhad, Iran. The pathology results of CT-PTNB from 94 cases were compared to the definitive pathology results obtained through methods such as surgery to assess the sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy of CT-PTNB in diagnosing of pulmonary malignancy.
CT-PTNB exhibits an accuracy of 82.98%, with sensitivity and specificity rates of 75.41 and 91.43%, respectively. This study underscores the issue of false-negative results in CT-PTNB and underscores the importance of integrating clinical, radiological, and additional diagnostic modality to guide diagnostic decisions.
In this large-scale multicenter study, the accuracy of CT-PTNB for diagnosis of pulmonary malignancy is acceptable but fairly low compared to previous studies.