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The Egyptian Journal of Bronchology
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Safety and diagnostic yield of thoracic ultrasound-assisted transthoracic biopsy performed by a pulmonologist

Egyptian Journal of Bronchology volume 12, pages 427–432 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Transthoracic ultrasonography (US) is still not utilized to its full potential by respiratory physicians, despite being a well-established and validated imaging modality. It allows for an immediate and mobile assessment that can potentially augment the physical examination of the chest. This work aims to assess safety and diagnostic yield of thoracic US-assisted transthoracic biopsy performed by a pulmonologist . Patients and methods The present study was conducted upon 75 patients who are referred to the Pulmonary Medicine Department, Ain Shams University Hospitals with radiological assessment that reveals pleural-based mass with or without pleural effusion, anterior mediastinal mass, peripheral lung lesions or chest wall lesions. The present study was conducted upon 75 (67 male and 8 female) patients with mean±SD age 58.8±15.64.

Results

This study showed that 31 cases were presented by peripheral pulmonary mass, 29 pleural lesions, nine mediastinal and six chest wall lesions, 57 of them diagnosed by sonar guided biopsy, 51 of them were malignant and the remaining six were benign.

Conclusion

Transthoracic US-assisted cutting-needle biopsy is an excellent first-line diagnostic tool for pleural-based lesions of at least 3 cm in diameter. It is a quick, low-cost, safe and well-tolerated tool in the hands of pulmonologists and has a high sensitivity for pleural-based malignancies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams, University, 12 Abdallah Pasha Street, 11211, Matareyya, Cairo, Egypt

    Laila Ashour, Eman Ramzy, Rehab Maher & Dalia El-Embaby MB, BCh, MSC

  2. Department of Interventional Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams, University, Cairo, Egypt

    Mohamed El-Gharib

Authors
  1. Laila Ashour
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  2. Eman Ramzy
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  3. Mohamed El-Gharib
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  4. Rehab Maher
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  5. Dalia El-Embaby MB, BCh, MSC
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dalia El-Embaby MB, BCh, MSC.

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Ashour, L., Ramzy, E., El-Gharib, M. et al. Safety and diagnostic yield of thoracic ultrasound-assisted transthoracic biopsy performed by a pulmonologist. Egypt J Bronchol 12, 427–432 (2018). https://doi.org/10.4103/ejb.ejb_11_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ejb.ejb_11_16

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