CT guided needle biopsy for thoracic mass

As our method for CT guided needle biopsy, after biopsy needle was placed in the chest wall, a CT scan was made and the direction of the needle was decided. The needle was advanced into the nodule in such a stepwise insertion technique. Diagnostic accuracy for malignant pulmonary tumors was 90% (162/181), but it for benign nodules was 77% (77/100). In all patients with mediastinal mass adequate specimen for histopathological diagnosis was obtained. CT guided needle biopsy on pulmonary and mediastinal masses is useful for diagnosing malignant tumor, however it is somewhat controversial for diagnosis of benign lesions.