“Tips and Tricks” for transthoracal lung biopsies

Two recent 2020  papers (Levy et al JCO & Roy-Chowdhuri et al. Arch Pathol Lab Med) focused once more on the importance of tissue samples in the era of molecular biology and personalized treatments for lung cancer.  The challenge to increase safety and comfort at one hand and, simultaneously, harvest high quality tissues remains matter of intense research and debate.  Seldomly, the interventionist is involved in the discussions despite their recognized expertise in procedural aspects.  They are responsible for getting the patient on the right tract from the very first moments in the hospital.  Some have a natural way to share their knowledge with students and peers.  One of them is Dr. Dennis Bosboom, interventional radiologist from the Radboud hospital in Nijmegen (the Netherlands).  In his “tips and tricks” paper he demonstrates that lung biopsies up to 10G are part of the daily procedure and that there is no such thing as “routine”.  Every lung biopsy is different but the result must consistently meet expectations.