Table 2. Clinical and Lesion Characteristics among Operators.
| Characteristics | Overall | Operator 1 | Operator 2 | Operator 3 | Operator 4 | Operator 5 | Operator 6 | Operator 7 | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of PTNBs | 2042 | 286 | 319 | 601 | 93 | 292 | 116 | 335 | |
| Age (years)*† | 63 ± 12 | 62 ± 12 | 63 ± 12 | 63 ± 12 | 65 ± 13 | 64 ± 12 | 63 ± 12 | 65 ± 12 | N/A |
| Sex† | 0.115 | ||||||||
| M | 1203 (58.9) | 171 (59.8) | 179 (56.1) | 330 (54.9) | 55 (59.1) | 183 (62.7) | 74 (63.8) | 211 (63.0) | |
| F | 839 (41.1) | 115 (40.2) | 140 (43.9) | 271 (45.1) | 38 (40.9) | 109 (37.3) | 42 (36.2) | 124 (37.0) | |
| Size (cm) | 0.167 | ||||||||
| ≤ 1 | 111 (5.4) | 23 (8.0) | 21 (6.6) | 30 (5.0) | 2 (2.2) | 11 (3.8) | 8 (6.9) | 16 (4.8) | |
| > 1 | 1931 (94.6) | 263 (92.0) | 298 (93.4) | 571 (95.0) | 91 (97.8) | 291 (96.2) | 108 (93.1) | 319 (95.2) | |
| Pleura to target distance (cm)* | 2.1 ± 1.8 | 2.4 ± 2.1 | 2.2 ± 3.7 | 2.1 ± 1.7 | 2.3 ± 2.8 | 2.1 ± 1.9 | 1.7 ± 2.0 | 1.7 ± 2.6 | N/A |
| Emphysema | 0.178 | ||||||||
| Absent | 1688 (82.7) | 243 (85.0) | 270 (84.6) | 504 (83.9) | 76 (81.7) | 242 (82.9) | 89 (76.7) | 264 (78.8) | |
| Present | 354 (17.3) | 43 (15.0) | 49 (15.4) | 97 (16.1) | 17 (18.3) | 50 (17.1) | 27 (23.3) | 71 (21.2) | |
| Location | 0.461 | ||||||||
| Lower | 876 (42.9) | 114 (39.9) | 139 (43.6) | 253 (42.1) | 44 (47.3) | 117 (40.1) | 57 (49.1) | 152 (45.4) | |
| Upper/middle | 1166 (57.1) | 172 (60.1) | 180 (56.4) | 348 (57.9) | 49 (52.7) | 175 (59.9) | 59 (50.9) | 183 (54.6) | |
| Pleural passages | 0.475 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1995 (97.7) | 278 (97.2) | 315 (98.7) | 587 (97.7) | 89 (95.7) | 288 (98.6) | 112 (96.6) | 326 (97.3) | |
| ≥ 2 | 47 (2.3) | 8 (2.8) | 4 (1.3) | 14 (2.3) | 4 (4.3) | 4 (1.4) | 4 (3.4) | 9 (2.7) |
Unless otherwise indicated, data are numbers of patients, and data in parentheses are percentages. *Data are mean ± standard deviation, †Total of 2042 PTNB procedures in 1948 patients (M:F = 1147:801; mean age, 63 ± 12 years) were analyzed in this study. In patients who underwent PTNB procedures more than two times, each procedure was described as independent case with separate inclusion of sex and age. N/A = not applicable, PTNB = percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy