CT-guided FNAC of intrathoracic mass lesions--a study among 35 patients

The present study was performed to evaluate the accuracy of CT-guided FNAC among 35 patients with intrathoracic mass lesions. It was done using 19 gauge coaxial needles. Patients were in the age group 7-77 years (mean 47.3 years, median 50 years). Maximum number of patients (60%) were in 41-70 years age group. There were 29 males (82.86%) and 6 females (17.14%).Total number of biopsies done were 40 in 35 patients; one attempt in 31 patients (88.57%), two attempts in 3 patients (8.57%) and three in 1 patient (2.86%). Only 2 patients (5.7%) had pneumothorax as a complication of FNAC. A correct diagnosis could be made in 31 patients amounting to an accuracy of 88.57%. Accuracy with respect to the number of biopsies was 77.5% (31/40). There were 28/35 patients (80%) with malignancies, and only 3/35 with benign inflammatory lesions. Average depth of the lesion ranged from 20-80 mm (mean 48mm). Average diameter of the lesions in this study ranged from 7 mm-8 cm (mean 4.7cm). Diagnostic accuracy for 7/35 small lesions < 1.5 cm was 85.7%, for 15/35 medium sized lesions (> or =1.5 cm - <3 cm) was 93.33% and for 13/35 large lesions (> or = 3 cm) was 84.6%. CT-guided FNAC is accurate, safe and minimally invasive procedure for diagnosis of intrathoracic mass lesions.