Contrast-enhanced ultrasound for needle biopsy of thoracic lesions

Two-dimensional ultrasound (US) and color doppler flow imaging are associated with certain limitations in the preprocedural evaluation and design of the puncture path for biopsies of thoracic lesions, such as a poorly defined boundary between the tumor and the atelectatic lesions in central lung cancer with atelectasis. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) can be valuable in the preoperative evaluation of the biopsy site and in increasing the accuracy of the biopsy. The present study investigated the value of clinical application of CEUS in US-guided core needle biopsy (US-CNB) in improving the diagnostic accuracy in thoracic lesions. A total of 120 patients with first-stage thoracic lesions from the Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Guangxi Medical University who underwent US-CNB were recruited and randomnly assigned to a conventional US group (n=66) and a CEUS group (n=54). All patients underwent preoperative evaluation and US-guided puncture of thoracic lesions. The intergroup differences in sonographic features, biopsy duration, biopsy success rate and complications were assessed. The CEUS group had a higher rate of detection of necrotic tissue (40.7% vs. 16.7%; χ²=8.633; P=0.003) and change of initial puncture path (48.1%) compared with the US group. In central lung cancer with atelectasis, the ability to distinguish between tumor and atelectasis was higher in the CEUS group compared with the conventional US group (31.5 vs. 7.6%; χ²=11.336; P=0.001). In addition, the CEUS group had a higher puncture success (96.3 vs. 80.3%; χ²=6.946; P=0.008) and a lower complication rate (3.7% vs. 18.2%; χ²=6.041; P=0.014) compared with the US group. CEUS can identify necrotic areas and occult tumors within atelectatic lung tissue and can be used for guiding puncture biopsy of thoracic lesions to improve the diagnostic accuracy with greater comparative clinical utility than conventional US. Pre-biopsy CEUS is especially useful for patients undergoing repeated US-CNB and those with hypovascular lesions, atelectasis or necrosis.