The Role of Thoracic Ultrasonography in the Diagnosis of Anterior Mediastinal Lesions

Coşkun Doğan
2017 Southern Clinics of Istanbul Eurasia  
Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine diagnostic success of thoracic ultrasonography (US)-guided transthoracic fine needle aspiration biopsy (TTFNAB) performed by chest physicians for anterior mediastinal lesions. Methods: Patients with anterior mediastinal lesions observed with US-guided TTFNAB performed in our clinic between December 2010 and January 2016, were included in the study. Details of clinical, demographic, and radiographic findings of the patients, sonographic
more » ... earance and size of the lesions, diagnosis based on US-guided TTFNAB results, final diagnosis, method of final diagnosis, and complications were recorded. Thoracic US was performed by an experienced chest physician using Logiq 7 system (GE Healthcare, Inc. Chicago, IL, USA) with 3.5 MHz convex transducer in abdominal mode. Results: Fourteen patients with mean age of 47.5±13 years were included in the study. Twelve cases (85.7%) were diagnosed with US-guided TTFNAB. Remaining 2 (14.3%) cases could not be diagnosed with this method. The final diagnosis in those 2 cases was squamous cell carcinoma and lymphoma. Lesions in study were both malignant (n=12; 85.7%) and benign (n= 2; 14.3%). Sensitivity and specificity of US-guided TTFNAB were calculated as 85.7% and 100%, respectively. Pneumothorax was observed in only 1 case. Conclusion: US-guided TTFNAB is an easy, accessible, and inexpensive diagnostic method with high diagnostic efficiency, low complication rate, and no radiation exposure.
doi:10.14744/scie.2016.28445 fatcat:xkber5fzqnf2tfwpedfno356gy