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. 2024 Mar;54(1):14-17.
doi: 10.1177/14782715241231331. Epub 2024 Feb 20.

Physician-led thoracic ultrasound-guided biopsy; a district general hospital perspective

M J Cafferkey  1 , G A Martin  1
Affiliations

Physician-led thoracic ultrasound-guided biopsy; a district general hospital perspective

M J Cafferkey et al. J R Coll Physicians Edinb. 2024 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Physician-led thoracic ultrasound (TUS)-guided biopsies provide a prompt route to tissue diagnosis in pleural and peripheral lung malignancies. This retrospective study reviews the diagnostic performance and safety of this approach in a UK District General Hospital.

Methods: Time to biopsy, diagnostic yield and complication rate were analysed in a cohort of 49 patients undergoing ultrasound-guided tissue sampling between September 2019 and December 2022.

Results: Fifty-one TUS-guided biopsies were attempted. Mean time from decision to biopsy was 5 days. The overall diagnostic yield was 82%. Complication rate was low; 3 minor adverse effects were reported which led to no change in routine care.

Conclusion: This single centre retrospective study shows that physician-led TUS-guided biopsy provides a safe and timely method of obtaining a tissue diagnosis in thoracic malignancy. It offers an alternative to computer tomography (CT)-guided or thoracoscopic biopsies and should be considered in selected patients where local procedural expertise exists.

Keywords: TUS-guided biopsy; lung cancer; mesothelioma; pleural disease; thoracic ultrasound; thoracic ultrasound-guided biopsy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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