CT-guided transthoracic needle biopsy: advantages in histopathological and molecular tests.

The present study aimed to demonstrate that computed tomography-guided transthoracic needle biopsy (TTNB) is a safe procedure that gives a more accurate pre-operative tissue diagnosis for peripheral lung nodules than transthoracic needle aspiration, obtaining suitable samples for molecular test in lung adenocarcinomas. Between December 2016 and March 2018 at Thoracic Surgery Department of the University of Palermo - Policlinico Paolo Giaccone hospital, TTNB was performed in 42 patients with computed tomography-detected peripheral lung nodules >10 mm, using 16-18-Gauge Tru-Cut needles. With TTNB, we have estimated an accuracy for tissue diagnosis of 97.6%. At the molecular test, EGFR overexpression and mutation resulted positive for 12/23 patients with lung adenocarcinoma. TTNB has showed a low rate of complications and it is adoptable as standard diagnostic procedure for peripheral lung nodules.