Dual-Layer Spectral CT as Innovative Imaging Guidance in Lung Biopsies: Could Color-Coded Z-Effective Images Allow...

The aim of the study was to try to obtain more information on diagnostic samplings and biomarkers using dual-layer spectral CT in lung biopsies. Lung biopsies were performed by merging images obtained with CBCT with those from spectral CT to use them as functional guidance, experimenting with double sampling to determine the difference between the area with a higher Z-effective number and that with a lower Z-effective number. Ten patients with large lung lesions on spectral CT were selected and underwent percutaneous transthoracic lung mass biopsy. Technical success was calculated. The percentage of neoplastic, inflammatory, fibrotic, necrotic cells, or non-neoplastic lung parenchyma was reported. The possibility of carrying out immunohistochemical or molecular biology investigations was analyzed. All lesions were results malignant in 10/10 samples in the Z_max areas; in the Z_min areas, malignant cells were found in 7/10 samples. Technical success was achieved in 100% of cases for Z_max sampling and in 70% for Z_min sampling (p-value: 0.2105). The biomolecular profile was detected in 9/10 (90%) cases in Z_max areas, while in 4/10 (40%) cases in Z_min areas (p-value: 0.0573). The advantage of Z-effective imaging would be to identify a region of the lesion that is highly vascularized and probably richer in neoplastic cells, thus decreasing the risk of obtaining a non-diagnostic biopsy sample.