{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:38:39Z","timestamp":1787027919614,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,7]],"date-time":"2021-09-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1630972800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>(1) Background: The aim of this study was to conduct a prospective analysis on the diagnostic accuracy of transthoracic ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle biopsy (TUS-PNB) for the histological assessment of peripheral lung lesions and to assess the performance of transthoracic ultrasound (TUS) examination vs. chest CT (gold standard) in the differentiation between malignant and benign peripheral lung lesions. (2) Methods: A total of 961 consecutive patients with subpleural pulmonary lesions were enrolled. All the patients received a CT scan with contrast; 762 patients underwent TUS-PTNB for suspicion of malignancy, and the remaining 199 enrolled patients underwent only TUS examination as a part of routine follow-up for known non-malignant subpleural consolidations. (3) Results: Among the 762 TUS-guided biopsies, there were 627 (82.28%) malignant lesions, 82 (10.76%) benign lesions, and 53 (6.96%) indeterminate lesions. The overall diagnostic accuracy was 93.04%. The rates of pneumothorax not requiring chest-tube insertion and self-limited hemoptysis were 0.79 and 0.26%, respectively. Patients were divided into two groups based on the benign or malignant nature of the subpleural consolidations. On TUS, both malignant and benign lesions showed mostly irregular margins and a hypoechoic pattern, but no differences were assessed in terms of sonographic margins and pattern between the two groups. There was poor agreement between TUS and chest CT in assessing air bronchograms and necrotic areas. The only finding in the detection of which TUS showed superiority compared to chest-CT was pleural effusion. (4) Conclusions: TUS-PNB was confirmed to be an effective and safe diagnostic method for peripheral pulmonary consolidation, but their sonographic pattern did not allow to rule out a malignant nature. A pre-operative evaluation on CT images, combined with the possibility of performing additional immunohistochemical and cytological investigations and the experience of the medical staff, may improve the diagnostic yield of TUS-guided biopsies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics11091641","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,8]],"date-time":"2021-09-08T02:41:07Z","timestamp":1631068867000},"page":"1641","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Effectiveness and Safety of Transthoracic Ultrasound in Guiding Percutaneous Needle Biopsy in the Lung and Comparison vs. CT Scan in Assessing Morphology of Subpleural Consolidations"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6685-6942","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Sperandeo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Interventional and Diagnostic Ultrasound of Internal Medicine, IRCCS Fondazione Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3890-3435","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Evaristo","family":"Maiello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Oncology, IRCCS Fondazione Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7066-7896","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paolo","family":"Graziano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Patology, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Annalisa","family":"Simeone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Radiology, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Salvatore","family":"De Cosmo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal of Medicine, IRCCS Fondazione Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lucia","family":"Dimitri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Patology, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Concetta","family":"Di Micco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Oncology, IRCCS Fondazione Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elio","family":"Perrone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Nuclear Medicine and PET\/TC, IRCCS Fondazione Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marco","family":"Taurchini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Thoracic Surgery, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gianmaria","family":"Ferretti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Thoracic Surgery, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3932-3803","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio","family":"Mirijello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal of Medicine, IRCCS Fondazione Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Antonio","family":"Varriale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal of Medicine, IRCCS Fondazione Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Grimaldi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal of Medicine, IRCCS Fondazione Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Donato","family":"Lacedonia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Institute of Respiratory Diseases, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, FG, Italy"},{"name":"Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Policlinico \u201cRiuniti\u201d di Foggia, 71122 Foggia, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4299-7403","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carla","family":"Quarato","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Institute of Respiratory Diseases, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, FG, Italy"},{"name":"Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Policlinico \u201cRiuniti\u201d di Foggia, 71122 Foggia, FG, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"iv1","DOI":"10.1093\/annonc\/mdx222","article-title":"ESMO Guidelines Committee. 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