Pneumothorax during fluoroscopic biopsy: effect on nodule depth

Transthoracic needle aspiration biopsy of lung nodules is often performed under fluoroscopic guidance after measurement of lesion depth on preliminary computed tomography (CT) scans is obtained. We evaluated the change in depth of nodules in 10 patients in whom pneumothorax developed during CT-guided biopsy. We observed that nodule depth changed by an amount equal to the size of the pneumothorax. Awareness of the potential effect of pneumothorax on lesion depth should be helpful in reducing the likelihood of false-negative results with CT-assisted fluoroscopic biopsy when only single-plane fluoroscopy is available.