[Transthoracic needle aspiration in infectious pathology]

Area of Science:

• Pulmonology
• Infectious Diseases
• Oncology

Background:

• Diagnosing pulmonary infiltrates in immunocompromised patients or those unresponsive to antibiotics is challenging.
• Doubtful significance patches require accurate etiological diagnosis for effective treatment.
• Broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment failure necessitates alternative diagnostic approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficacy of percutaneous needle aspiration versus sterile brushing for bacteriological examination.
• To evaluate diagnostic yield in patients with difficult-to-diagnose lung pathologies.
• To determine the preferred method for microbiological diagnosis in specific patient groups.

Main Methods:

• Percutaneous needle aspiration was performed on 20 patients with pulmonary infiltrates.
• Sterile brushing was also performed on the same patient cohort for comparative analysis.
• Bacteriological examination was conducted for all collected samples.

Main Results:

• Percutaneous needle aspiration demonstrated a 75% positive diagnostic rate.
• Sterile brushing yielded a 25% positive diagnostic rate.
• Needle aspiration showed clear superiority over sterile brushing in this cohort.

Conclusions:

• Percutaneous needle aspiration is a more effective method for bacteriological diagnosis of difficult lung pathologies.
• The study recommends needle aspiration for improved diagnostic yield in challenging pulmonary cases.
• This finding aids in selecting optimal invasive procedures for lung infection and neoplastic evaluation.