[Transthoracal puncture biopsy under ultrasonic induction in tumors of the anterior mediastinum].

Differential diagnostics of tumors of anterior mediastinum is one of the most difficult problems of thoracic surgery and oncology. The authors conducted a retrospective analysis of the results of transthoracal puncture biopsy under ultrasonic induction in 44 patients with the tumors of the anterior mediastinum. Transthoracal biopsy was carried out using the device for biopsy (Multiple Biopsy Device-MBD-23) and ultrasonic scanner (Voluson 730 Expert), the patients being under intravenous (38 patients) and under local (6 patients) anesthetization. The diagnosis was made as a result of morphological research in all 100% of patients, the biopsy being performed the second time in one patient. The general information value of puncture biopsy under ultrasonic induction was 98%. A complication (localized pneumothorax, cupping off by itself) took place only in one of the follow-up study (2%). The analysis of presented material let the authors make a conclusion that transthoracal puncture biopsy under ultrasonic induction is a safe and highly informative method of diagnostics of tumors of the anterior mediastinum in selected patients.