Role of CT-guided transthoracic core needle biopsy in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis

PurposeTo evaluate the value of CT-guided core-needle biopsy in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.Materials and methods67 patients suspected with pulmonary tuberculosis underwent CT-guided core-needle biopsy in our hospital between March 2009 and January 2014. The biopsy procedures, pathologic findings, and microbiologic results were recorded.Results67 patients were enrolled including 40 men and 27 women, with a mean age of 45.4 years (range, from 17 to 75 years). Histological diagnosis were made by CT-guided core-needle biopsy as follows: The organism were detected in 20 patients; for organism negative patients, tumor tissue were found in 5 patients, epithelioid granulomatous reaction with caseation were found in 18 patients; epithelioid granulomatous reaction without caseation were found in 15 patients; nonspecific results were found in 9 patients. Smears and cultures were performed on 42 patients with TB positive in 15 patients. Finally, 51(76.12%) patients were diagnosed with TB; the specific diagnosis made by CT guided biopsy was 74.63%(50/67).ConclusionCT-guided transthoracic core needle biopsy had high performance on the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis and facilitated the diagnosis of malignancy, lymphoma and other infectious disease.