AJR. American journal of roentgenology
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Jun 1990
Percutaneous biopsy of thoracic lesions: value of sonography for needle guidance.
Fluoroscopy and CT are widely used to guide percutaneous needle biopsy of thoracic lesions. However, some lesions are not sufficiently visible on fluoroscopy and others are dangerous to access on CT without real-time monitoring. When these are the circumstances, sonographic guidance may be helpful. ⋯ The advantages of sonographic guidance are that the sonographic equipment is mobile and real-time monitoring makes the procedure safer. Its limitations are that it cannot be used when aerated lung or free air (pneumothorax) lies between the chest wall and the lesion and that cavitary lesions are difficult to sample by biopsy. Our results show that the use of sonographic guidance considerably expands the number of thoracic lesions amenable to percutaneous biopsy.