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Original Articles: General Thoracic

Invited Commentary

Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Illinois, Chicago, 849 S Wood St, Suite 417 (M/C 958), Chicago, IL 60612-7322

(Email: nsnow{at}uic.edu).

This article [1] is a clear, concise study of 10 consecutively treated patients who had suspicious rib lesions noted during their medical workup for benign or malignant diseases. The accuracy of the technique is 100% in this small study and will prove to be highly reproducible in a larger population as well.

The importance of this easily used technique is that malignancy can be accurately confirmed, but as importantly, benign lesions can be identified as well. Radiologic identification and localization is not always accurate, nor is visual inspection and localization of the target rib; therefore, the guided biopsies using the radionuclide localization allow for precision in diagnosis and staging and may significantly alter or solidify treatment plans. Suspicious lesions can be definitively diagnosed in virtually all patients, in my experience, and therefore the guesswork is eliminated, thereby allowing proper and evidence-based solutions to significant clinical problems.

There is little, if any, training needed, and the equipment should be available in all major medical centers and those using sentinel node biopsies for breast cancer and melanoma.

This article is an excellent example of the transfer and application of a useful technique from one discipline to another and offers us a brief, but informative communication likely to be extremely helpful to practicing thoracic surgeons.

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1. Andrade RS, Blondet JJ, Kast T, Jessurun J, Maddaus MA. Evaluation of isolated rib lesions with radionuclide-guided biopsy Ann Thorac Surg 2008;86:1111-1115.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Norman Snow Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Snow, N. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Snow, N. Related Collections Chest wall Related Article