Comparison of High-Frequency Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound With Conventional High-Frequency Ultrasound in Guiding Pleural Lesion Biopsy.

The goal of the work described here was to compare high-frequency contrast-enhanced ultrasound (HF-CEUS) and conventional high-frequency ultrasound (HFU) with respect to performance and safety during ultrasound-guided biopsy of pleural lesions. We performed a retrospective study on patients with pleural lesions who received the puncture biopsy under the guidance of conventional HFU or HF-CEUS between August 2018 and August 2021. These patients received either a conventional HF-U (HF-U group) or HF-CEUS (HF-CEUS group) examination. Clinical characteristics, pathological results, ultrasonic images and complications were compared between these two groups. A total of 144 patients were enrolled, with 70 in the HFU group and 74 in the HF-ECUS group. Except for the time required for ultrasonic localization (p < 0.05), there were no significant differences in clinical characteristics between the two groups. The success rate of biopsy in the HF-CEUS group was higher than that in the HFU group (93.2% vs. 81.4%, p < 0.05). There were significant differences between the two groups in terms of measurements of pleural thickness, necrotic areas, large blood vessels and lesion boundaries (p < 0.05). The complication rates were 2.7% and 12.9% in the HF-CEUS and HFU groups, respectively, with a significant difference (p < 0.05). Compared with conventional HFU, the HF-CEUS-guided pleural biopsy had a better success rate and fewer complications. HF-CEUS could facilitate the biopsy in patients with pleural lesions.