Sonographically Guided Transthoracic Biopsy of Peripheral Lung and Mediastinal Lesions

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of contrast-enhanced sonography on sonographically guided transthoracic needle biopsy of lung lesions. METHODS: A total of 121 patients underwent sonographically guided transthoracic needle cutting biopsy. Of the 121 patients, 62 (contrast-enhanced sonography group) underwent contrast-enhanced sonography before biopsy, and the information from contrast-enhanced sonography was used to optimize the biopsy procedure. The remaining 59 patients constituted the non-contrast-enhanced sonography group. The enhancement patterns and echogenicity were evaluated by the consensus of 2 sonographers. The diagnostic efficacy was compared between the contrast-enhanced and non-contrast-enhanced sonography groups. RESULTS: The enhancement intensity and extent varied greatly among different thoracic lesions, and an anechoic area (necrosis) was revealed in 26 of 62 lesions (41.9%) lesions after administration of the contrast agent. The overall diagnostic accuracy of sonographically guided transthoracic biopsy in this study was 85.9% (104 of 121). In the contrast-enhanced sonography group, the initial biopsy led to correct diagnosis in 58 of 62 lesions (93.6%). In the non-contrast-enhanced sonography group, the initial biopsy led to correct diagnosis in 46 of 59 lesions (78.0%). The difference in the diagnostic accuracy between the contrast-enhanced and non-contrast-enhanced sonography groups was statistically significant (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Contrast-enhanced sonography enables differentiation of viable from necrotic portions of thoracic lesions and has a positive impact on the diagnostic efficacy of sonographically guided transthoracic needle biopsy.