CT gantry tilt: utility in transthoracic fine-needle aspiration biopsy. Work in progress.

The authors used a gantry tilt of 20 degrees in five patients to allow fine-needle aspiration biopsy of peripheral pulmonary lesions that were difficult to approach with a vertical alignment because of overlying ribs. This method allowed a direct approach to the lesion in all five cases, with the entire needle path visible in the scanning plane, avoidance of vital structures, and traversal of a minimal amount of normal lung parenchyma.