Thin needle biopsy of chest lesions: time-saving potential

Aspiration biopsy with the thin needle was performed on 182 patients who had 196 chest lesions suspected for malignancy. The needle biopsy was generally performed as the last step in the diagnostic process, after the traditional diagnostic methods failed to yield a reliable diagnosis. The mean delay from the first sign or symptom to the cytologic diagnosis was 3.2 months, the mean delay from the first hospital admission to the diagnosis was 2.7 months. On the average, 3.6 days passed from the time of the biopsy to the clinical decision about the treatment. The wisdom of spending time on inconclusive diagnostic procedure is questioned in view of the fct that smaller (ie, earlier) lung tumors carry better prognosis.