Factors Contributing to Pneumothorax in Transthoracic CT-Guided Needle Aspiration Biopsy

We studied pneumothorax as a complication of transthoracic CT-guided needle aspiration biopsy, and itscorrelation with different variables were determined.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 145 consecutive patients, aged 9-87 years (mean55.3+17.6; M/F=1.6), during a 6-month period. We reviewed the pathology results of 150 biopsy specimens obtained fromthe cases, and assessed the effect of lesion size, depth, patient age and patient emphysema on pneumothorax rate.

Lesion size ranged 1-18 cm (mean 6.5+3.4 cm). 95 lesions had zero distance from the chest wall, which were alltaken into account in our calculations.Pneumothorax rate was 6 percent, and we found that lesion depth (p <0.05), lesion size(p=0.069), patient age (p=0.058,) and presence of emphysema (p <0.001) are significantly associated with increasingpneumothorax rate (CI=90%).

Lesion depth, lesion size, patient age, and emphysema significantly increase the rate of pneumothorax duringtransthoracic CT-guided needle biopsy.(Tanaffos 2002;1(1):15-21)