Chest biopsy by CT-guided percutaneous fine needle punctures:Report of 33 cases

Objective: To explore the clinical value of chest biopsy by CT-guided percutaneous fine needle punctures in diagnosis of space-occupying lesions of the chest. Methods: Thirty-three cases of the chest lesion were performed biopsy by combined use of 17G and 18G soft-tissue-cutting biopsy needles, 21G fine-needle and PTC needle with the guide of CT. Results: Among the 33 cases, 25 were confirmed by clinical data and pathological examination to suffer from primary malignan tumor, 1 from tuberculosis, 1 from thymus cancer and 2 from metastatic carcinoma. Indefinite diagnosis was made in 4 cases. The diagnosis rate was 87.9%. After operation, pneumothorax occurred in 1 case and traces of blood in sputum were found in 3 cases. Conclusions: Chest biopsy by CT-guided percutaneous fine needle punctures is a safe and practical technique and may be widely used in clinical application.