Table_Anonymized.xlsx

Institutional Review Board Statement: The study was conducted in
accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Ethics
Committee of the State Medical Association of Baden-Württemberg (F-2021-038 on
01.06.2021).

Abstract: The
purpose of this study is to assess the effect of nine covariates on the
occurrence or absence of stable or symptomatic pneumothorax. Forty-three
patients underwent CT-guided lung biopsies from January 2020 to January 2022
(24 m, 19 f, median age 70 years). All the interventions were carried out with
a semi-automatic 18G needle and a 17G trocar in a prone or supine position.
Different covariates were measured and correlated to the rate and severity of
the pneumothoraces observed. Nominal two-sided t-test p-values for the continuous variables and Fisher’s exact test
results for the categorical variables were conducted. The data included the
lesion size, distance to the pleura, needle-pleura angle, age, gender, position
during the procedure, and the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Patients with an observed pneumothorax had an average angle between the needle
and the pleura of 74.00° compared to 94.68° in patients with no pneumothorax (p-value
= 0.028). A smaller angle measurement correlated with a higher risk of pneumothorax
development. The needle-pleural angle plays a vital role in the outcome of a
CT-guided lung biopsy. Correctly adjusting the needle-pleural angle can diminish
the pneumothorax risk associated with a CT-guided lung biopsy. The study
results show that as the needle’s angle deviates from the perpendicular, the
pleural surface area experiencing trauma increases, and pneumothorax is more
likely to occur.