CT-Guided Percutaneous Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology of Pulmonary Mass.

Abstract

Introducti on:Following the fi rst study of Computed tomography guided trans thoracic biopsy of lung lesion by Haaga and Alfi di in 1976, CT guided transthoracic biopsy has been widely used for confi rming the diagnosis of suspicious lung lesions. This study is aimed to assess the eff ecti veness of Transthoracic percutaneous fi ne needle aspirati on cytology and frequency of associated complicati ons. Methods:A retrospecti ve, hospital based study was performed between 11/06/2008 and 1/12/2009 atDepartment of Radiology, Shree Birendra Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.Thirty nine consecuti ve cases of lung lesions who underwent Trans Thoracic Percutaneous Fine Needle Aspirati on Cytology (TTFNAC) under CT guidance were analysed. Smears of the aspirated material were evaluated by the pathology consultant (cytopathological evaluati on) for adequacy Results: There was adequate material for a cytopathological diagnosis in thirty four (87.18 %) cases. Two cases were hemorrhagic while three cases revealed only reacti ve cells thus inadequate and non representati ve case consti tuted (12.8 %). Eight cases were reported as benign (23.53 %). Twenty three samples (67.65%) were reported as defi nite malignant cases and three cases (8.82%) showed atypical cells, suggesti ve of malignancy. Squamous cell carcinoma was the single most frequent histological diagnosis (12 cases). Conclusions:The FNAC of lung is useful, safe and economical technique providing 87% diagnosti c accuracy for lung mass without signifi cant increase in complicati ons.