Percutaneous needle biopsy of the pleura

Percutaneous pleural biopsy is a well-established and safe technique that p lays a central role in determining the origin of pleural disease. When perf ormed unguided, pleural biopsy is limited to patients with relatively large pleural effusions. image guidance, using CT or ultrasound, has increased t he scope for percutaneous biopsy, allowing pleural biopsy to be performed s afely in patients with minimal pleural fluid or isolated pleural thickening . By enabling precise targeting of abnormally thickened pleura, image guide d biopsy has reduced sampling error and increased diagnostic yield.