Efficacy and safety of CT-guided percutaneous fine needle aspiration and biopsy for malignant pulmonary lesions

Background: CT guided percutaneous transthoracic fine needle aspiration (FNA) and core biopsy (CB) are commonly used to characterise lung lesions. There is conflicting information on which method is superior and wide variation in reported complication rates.

Objectives: Our objectives were to establish the efficacy and safety of percutaneous CT guided FNA and CB in the diagnosis of malignant lung lesions.

Methods: This retrospective study included patients who underwent CT guided percutaneous FNA and/or CB for lung parenchymal lesions at Kasturba Medical College Mangalore from January 2013 to December 2020. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee. Efficacy was determined by the adequacy of samples, sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy. Safety was assessed using the incidence of complications.

Results: 326 patients underwent both FNA and CB, and 49 underwent FNA alone. Adequate samples were obtained in 82.9% of FNA cases and 95.7% of CB...