C-arm cone-beam CT-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy of small (≤ 20 mm) lung nodules: Diagnostic accuracy and complications in 161 patients

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study is to retrospectively evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and complications of C-arm cone-beam CT (CBCT)–guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) for small (≤ 20 mm) lung nodules and their possible influencing factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS. From March 2009 to July 2010, 161 consecutive patients (77 men and 84 women; mean [± SD] age, 61 ± 11.8 years; range, 29–85 years) with 173 small (≤ 20 mm) lung nodules underwent CBCT-guided PTNB performed by an experienced chest radiologist in a tertiary referral hospital. The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and complication rates were statistically evaluated, and influencing factors were assessed using univariate and subsequent multivariate analysis. RESULTS. Of 173 nodules (mean size, 15 ± 3.7 mm), 94 (54.3%) were diagnosed as malignant, 69 (39.9%) as benign, and 10 (5.8%) as indeterminate. On PTNB, 160 nodules were correctly diagnosed and three were false-negatives. Diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, an...