Clinical value of CT-guided percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy for peritoneal lesions

Our plain-English summary of Clinical value of CT-guided percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy for peritoneal lesions, by H. Yu, C. Zhang, S. Liu, et al (BMC Medical Imaging, 2020).

The study

• Authors: H. Yu, C. Zhang, S. Liu, G. Jiang, S. Li, L. Zhang, Y. Wang, W. Xu
• Journal: BMC Medical Imaging
• Published: 2020;20(1):122
• Cited by: 5 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Background: To investigate the clinical value of CT-guided percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy for peritoneal lesions of unknown nature.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of 84 patients with peritoneal thickening for unknown reasons. There were 26 males and 58 females who underwent CT-guided percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy for peritoneal lesions.

Result: Among these 84 patients, no definite pathologic diagnosis was made in 3 patients, who were lost to the follow-up. The accuracy rate of CT-guided percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy was 95.1% (77/81). Sixty lesions were pathologically-diagnosed with malignancies (74.1%), including 55 with peritoneal metastases, 4 with malignant mesotheliomas, and 1 with a lymphoma. Twenty-four patients (33.8%) were diagnosed as benign lesions, including 11 with tuberculosis and 13 with inflammatory lesions. The complications of CT-guided percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy included bleeding in 1 patient and ascites leakage in 2 patients.

Conclusion: CT-guided percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy is a safe and effective method for diagnosing peritoneal lesions.

In plain English

This retrospective study from the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University in China looked at 84 patients (26 males and 58 females, aged 20 to 84) who had a needle biopsy of the peritoneum (the lining of the abdomen) guided by CT scanning between January 2012 and December 2015. All had peritoneal thickening of unknown cause. The article does not mention asbestos or any exposure. Three patients were lost to follow-up. Among the other 81, the biopsy result agreed with the final diagnosis in 77, an accuracy rate of 95.1%. Four biopsy results disagreed with the final diagnosis. The article reported 60 malignancies, including 4 malignant mesotheliomas, and 24 patients with benign lesions, including 11 with tuberculosis. Complications occurred in 11 of 84 patients (13.1%). One patient had serious bleeding, which was treated without surgery. The authors concluded the method is safe and effective for diagnosing peritoneal lesions. They noted that few patients had benign lesions, three were lost to follow-up, and the sample was small. Some figures in the article do not agree with each other.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Retrospective analysis of a hospital case series testing how accurate a diagnostic procedure is
• Who was studied: 84 patients (26 males, 58 females, aged 20 to 84) who had CT-guided peritoneal biopsy at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, China, from January 2012 to December 2015
• Exposure: No asbestos or other exposure was studied or mentioned. The study evaluated a procedure: CT-guided percutaneous biopsy of the peritoneum using an 18G needle.
• Main results:
  • Among the 81 patients with follow-up, the accuracy rate was 95.1% (77/81).
  • In 4 patients the biopsy result did not agree with the final clinical diagnosis.
  • 60 lesions were diagnosed as malignant (74.1%): 55 peritoneal metastases, 4 malignant mesotheliomas and 1 lymphoma.
  • 24 patients (33.8%) were diagnosed with benign lesions, including 11 with tuberculosis and 13 with inflammatory lesions.
  • 11 of 84 patients (13.1%) had complications. One patient bled and 2 had ascites leakage.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that CT-guided percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy is a safe and effective method for diagnosing peritoneal lesions.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Patients with peritoneal metastases made up a larger share of the study than patients with benign lesions.
  • Three patients were lost to follow-up, so no definite diagnosis was made for them.
  • CT guidance was used only when ultrasound guidance was not enough, which led to a small sample size.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Fine-Needle Aspiration, Mesothelioma, Ascites.

Related studies

• Percutaneous image-guided fine-needle aspiration of peritoneal lesions — L.J. Layfield, E.V. Gopez (2003)
• Advantages of thoracic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy in lung cancer and mesothelioma — M. Sperandeo, L. Dimitri, et al. (2014)
• Endoscopic Ultrasound with Bronchoscope-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration for the Diagnosis of Paraesophageally Located Lung Lesions — I. Skovgaard Christiansen, J.C. Kuijvenhoven, et al. (2019)
• Percutaneous image-guided cutting needle biopsy of the pleura in the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma — R.F. Adams, W. Gray, et al. (2001)
• CT-guided core-needle biopsy in omental pathology — F. Pombo, E. Rodriguez, et al. (1997)
• Ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle biopsy skill for peripheral lung lesions and complications prevention — H. Zhang, Y. Guang, et al. (2020)

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