Authors
- Barbara Vrbanac, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine, Rijeka, Republic of Croatia
- Ena Mršić, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine, Rijeka, Republic of Croatia
- Melita Kukuljan, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine; University of Rijeka, Faculty of Health Studies; Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka, Clinical Department of Radiology, Rijeka, Republic of Croatia
Article type:
Original Scientific Paper
Abstract:
Introduction. CT-guided transthoracic biopsy (TTB) of pleural lesions is a minimally invasive radiological diagnostic method used to obtain samples for cytological and pathohistological analysis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of CT-guided TTB and to determine the incidence of complications.
Methods. This retrospective study was conducted at the Radiology Department of Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka from March 2007 to January 2019. The study includes 105 patients who underwent CT-guided TTB, 84 men and 21 women.
Results. The most frequent diagnosis among our subjects, determined by cytological and pathohistological analysis of tissue samples, was malignant mesothelioma, diagnosed in 46.7% of patients. The sensitivity of CT-guided TTB of pleural lesions was 92.96%, specificity 100%, positive predictive value (PPV) 100%, negative predictive value (NPV) 87.18%, and diagnostic accuracy 95.24%. Among the subjects of our study, no complications occurred during the intervention.
Conclusion. We recommend this method as the method of choice in the diagnosis of pleural lesions, given the high diagnostic accuracy and the low rate of complications
Keywords:
Image-guided biopsy; mesothelioma; pleura; radiology; thorax