Diagnostic performance of lung ultrasound in detecting pneumothorax after CT- guided transthoracic biopsy

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the diagnostic performance of lung ultrasound (LUS) in detecting and semi-quantifying pneumothorax (PTX), using computed tomography (CT) as the reference standard. The study included 150 patients who underwent CT-guided transthoracic biopsy (TTB) for lung lesions. Within 30 minutes, two radiologists blinded to the participant’s prior information performed LUS in asymptomatic patients. The results showed that PTX was present on CT in 49/150 (32.3%) cases. LUS was positive in 40/150 (26.7%) patients, with a substantial agreement between the two radiologists (Cohen κ statistics = 0.8). The sensitivity and specificity of LUS were 100% (95%CI 97.6% to 100%) and 91.8% (95%CI 87.4% to 96.2%), respectively. Moreover, the positive and negative predictive values were 87.5% (95%CI 82.2% to 92.8%) and 96.4% (95%CI 92.4% to 98.9%), respectively. In the semi-quantification of PTX by LUS, the location of lung point was described in 36/49 (73.5%) patients. The sensitivity and specificity of this sign were 87.5% (95%CI 82.2% to 92.8%) and 96.4% (95%CI 92.4% to 98.9%), respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 87.5% (95%CI 82.2% to 92.8%) and 96.4% (95%CI 92.4% to 98.9%), respectively. In conclusion, LUS is a susceptible and specific diagnostic method for diagnosing and semi-quantifying PTX.