Computed tomographic--guided stereotaxic biopsy of thoracic lesions

A stereotaxic guidance system has been used in conjunction with a conventional CT unit to biopsy 26 consecutive thoracic lesions. Accurate needle placement with a single manipulation occurred in 24 instances and two lesions required second passes. The technique provided adequate pathologic material with an acceptable complication rate. System advantages include the ability to approach lesions along oblique paths, controlled approach in difficult locations (mediastinal, peripheral, subscapular), capacity to biopsy small nonfluoroscopically visualized lesions, and increased speed over manual techniques.