Lung Biopsy (needle)

[thaisabai]

sawasdee

anyone any experience with this procedure?

my doctor (Bumrungrad hospital) discovered 2 small white spots in my lungs after a CT scan and is suggesting that I have this invested further

I am 73 years old and still smoking. However during a scan 4 months earlier my lungs were clear.

Doctor suggests that it could be a TB sign or a benign growth and says that this type of result seldom turns out to be cancer.

I am reading a lot about the procedure and it sounds quite risky and scary. Although an outpatient procedure, there seems to be quite a realistic risk to a lung collapse, requiring a hospital stay.

anyone any experience? appreciate any comments before I make a decision to have the procedure.

 

thanks

Thaisabai

[Maestro]

I would get a second opinion. Do you have DVDs of the two CT scans?

[Sheryl]

By all means get a second opinion if you like.  Get the CD of the two scans (this one and the prior one) and take to a different pulomonolgost.

 

But unless the second doctor thinks the "spots" are artifact, in a smoker the risks of not biopsing a mass is usually much greater than of doing the biopsy.

 

You are actually lucky the spots/masses are in a location accessible by needle biopsy as sometimes open chest surgery is required.

 

A minority of patients suffer complications from literally any procedure, if you google looking for it, everything will seem scary.

 

Penumothorax (entry of air into the lung space, which can cause collapse but if small in amount does not) is the most common complication, this is true. It occurs in 1 out of 5 cases on average and is usually mild, the incidence of pneumothorax requiring reinflation of the lung/hospitalization is only about 1 in 10.

 

The skill of the doctor doing the biopsy is a major factor in complication rate so research your doctor's qualifications carefully.

 

If you opt against the biopsy now you will need to do a repeat scan in the near future (say 2-3 months at most). Frequent scans have their own risks as of course does failing tio detect lung cancer in its earliest stages.

 

 

[banK]

Wont a PET scan determine whether a something is cancerous 100%?

 

My Biopsy 3 years ago came back negative for malignancy, so I opted for a PET scan which showed up as a glowing malignant tumor. Had part of the lung excised, pathology determined caught at stage 1.

 

The PET scan cost around 60,000 Baht, but obviously well worth it!

 

banK

[lopburi3]

PET is not 100% (what is?) but it is an important tool and I have had one time (six months after removal of bladder cancer and due to CT scan image of questionable area).  It is a rather high does of radiation exposure (at Bangkok Cancer Hospital done in an underground location) so may not be first choice for someone without known cancer (although OP seems at risk - but not a doctor so can not speculate on that).  

Edited November 19, 2018 by lopburi3