CT-Guided Percutaneous Lung Biopsies in Patients With Suspicion for Infection May Yield Clinically Useful Information

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to assess the frequency and time frame with which CT-guided lung biopsies for suspected infection yield information that can affect patient management. MATERIALS AND METHODS. All CT-guided lung biopsies over a 68-month period performed for the purpose of diagnosing a suspected infection were reviewed to determine the proportion that yielded information affecting patient management. Patients were included if infection was the only consideration causing the pulmonary lesion in question. RESULTS. Twenty-one biopsies were performed to identify a specific organism causing infection in patients with suspected infection; all patients were receiving antibiotics, 20 (95%) were immunocompromised, and 15 (71%) had undergone a prior bronchoscopy. Material collected from the biopsy provided a diagnosis in nine (43%) patients, whereas the biopsy results were nondiagnostic in the remaining 12 (57%). Of the nine patients for whom the biopsy yielded a diagnosis, eight biopsies rev...