Diagnostic efficacy of CT-guided transthoracic needle biopsy and fine needle aspiration in cases of pulmonary infectious disease.

Purpose: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of computed-tomography (CT)-guided transthoracic needle biopsy (TNB) and fine needle aspiration (FNA) in diagnosing pulmonary infectious diseases.
Patients and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients treated at our institution between October 2006 and September 2009 and identified 161 patients who had undergone CT-guided TNB or FNA. We conducted CT-guided TNB or FNA for the patients if bronchoscopy failed to provide proper diagnosis or if their thoracic lesions were not appropriate targets for bronchoscopy.
Results: Twenty-three patients were diagnosed with pulmonary infectious diseases, of whom 17 were diagnosed by CT-guided TNB or FNA; sensitivity was therefore 73.9 % (17/23). The diagnostic rate for Aspergillus infection was especially high (75 %).
Conclusion: CT-guided TNB and FNA proved to be effective as alternative methods if bronchoscopy failed to diagnose pulmonary infectious diseases, with acceptable complication rates.