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Updated: May 18, 2026
Use of Electromagnetic Navigational Transthoracic Needle Aspiration (E-TTNA) for Sampling of Lung Nodules
Published on: May 23, 2015
Percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy of small (≤ 1 cm) lung nodules under C-arm cone-beam CT virtual navigation
Ji Yung Choo1, Chang Min Park, Nyoung Keun Lee
1Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, 101, Daehangno, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, South Korea.
Objectives:
To describe our initial experience with percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PCNB) of small (≤1 cm) lung nodules using a cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) virtual navigation guidance system in 105 consecutive patients.
Methods:
One hundred and five consecutive patients (55 male, 50 female; mean age, 62 years) with 107 small (≤1 cm) lung nodules (mean size, 0.85 cm ± 0.14) underwent PCNBs under CBCT virtual-navigation guidance system and constituted our study population. Procedural details-including radiation dose, sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy and complication rates of CBCT virtual navigation guided PCNBs-were described.
Results:
The mean number of pleural passages with the coaxial needle, biopsies, CT acquisitions, total procedure time, coaxial introducer dwelling time, and estimated radiation exposure during PCNBs were 1.03 ± 0.21, 3.1 ± 0.7, 3.4 ± 1.3, 10.5 min ± 3.2 and 7.2 min ± 2.5, and 5.72 mSv ± 4.19, respectively. Sixty nodules (56.1 %) were diagnosed as malignant, 38 (35.5 %) as benign and nine (8.4 %) as indeterminate. The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of CBCT virtual-navigation-guided PCNB for small (≤1 cm) nodules were 96.7 % (58/60), 100 % (38/38) and 98.0 % (96/98), respectively. Complications occurred in 13 (12.1 %) cases; pneumothorax in seven (6.5 %) and haemoptysis in six (5.6 %).
Conclusion:
CBCT virtual-navigation-guided PCNB is a highly accurate and safe diagnostic method for small (≤1 cm) nodules.
