Background. In 1883, Leyden described percutaneous lung biopsy, but it was not until 1970s that image guided fine needle chest biopsy gained widespread acceptance. Haaga and Alfidi reported CT-guided thoracic biopsy in 1976. Currently, tissue sampling of a thoracic lesion is indicated when the diagnosis is not obtained by the endobronchial technique and when the cytological diagnosis will modify the stage of the disease or influence the therapeutic strategy. Cytology obtained by small-gauge needle aspiration biopsy confirms the nature of the lesion in 80 -95% of cases and carry a low incidence of major complications according to the literature. The purpose of this retrospective analysis was to provide basic data about diagnostic accuracy and incidence of pneumothorax and chest tube insertion with respect to percutaneous transthoracic CT-guided needle biopsy of lung lesions. Methods. After positioning of the patient we performed a spiral CT of the thorax with the accordingly placed metal mark, which helped us to set the optimal cutaneous entry point. After that we re-checked the localisation of the lesion and marked the entry point with a pen and clean the surface to keep it sterile. After we applied local anaesthetic subcutaneously, we used coaxial 18G Gallini aspiration biopsy needles with cutting tip for CT-guided aspiration cytologic examination. The length of the needle was chosen according to the distance of the targeted lesion.

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Sonographically guided FNAB is accurate and safe for evaluating enlarged adrenal glands in patients with lung cancer. Our results also suggest that a solitary ipsilateral adrenal metastasis in a patient with resectable primary lung cancer may represent a regional extension of the disease rather than systemic spread.

Small amounts of pleural fluid can be visualized by chest sonography in healthy pregnant women. This result, if isolated, should not be taken as a sign of occult thoracic disease.

In experimental conditions, small amounts of pleural fluid can be detected by chest sonography in healthy individuals. Our research suggests that there are individuals with sonographically permanently less ("dry pleural space") or more ("wet pleural space") physiologic pleural fluid.