TARGETing the utility of CT-guided pleural biopsy facilitated by PET-CT imaging

Extract Malignancy is the most common cause of exudative pleural effusions [1, 2]. About 40% of patients with lung cancer, which is the predominant aetiology of malignant pleurisy [3], develop pleural effusions during the course of their illness [4]. In addition, approximately 90% of pleural mesotheliomas exhibit a unilateral pleural effusion on computed tomography (CT) [5]. Pleural fluid cytological examination remains the gold standard for diagnosing malignant pleural effusion (MPE). However, its overall sensitivity is roughly 50%, and remains particularly low in squamous cell lung cancer (14–24%) and mesothelioma (6–30%) [6, 7].
Source: European Respiratory Journal - Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Editorials Source Type: research