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. 2020 Aug 24;15(8):e0238107. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238107

Pneumothorax after CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy: A comparison between immediate and delayed occurrence

Kyungsoo Bae 1,2, Ji Young Ha 1,2, Kyung Nyeo Jeon 1,2,*
Editor: Muhammad Adrish3
PMCID: PMC7446785  PMID: 32834016

Abstract

Background

In CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy (CTLB), pneumothorax can occur as a late complication (delayed pneumothorax). The incidence, risk factors, and clinical significance of delayed pneumothorax are not well known.

Objectives

To compare the risk factors for immediate and delayed pneumothorax after CTLB and to know their clinical significance.

Methods

Images and medical records of 536 consecutive patients who underwent CTLB were reviewed. All biopsies were performed as inpatient procedures. Follow-up chest radiographs were obtained at least twice at 4 h after procedure and before discharge. Risk factors for immediate and delayed pneumothorax were assessed based on patient-, lesion-, and procedure-related variables. Rates of chest tube insertion were also compared.

Results

Pneumothorax developed in 161 patients (30.0%) including 135 (25.2%) immediate and 26 (4.9%) delayed cases. Lesion size was an independent risk factor for both immediate and delayed pneumothorax (OR = 0.813; CI = 0.717–0.922 and OR = 0.610; CI = 0.441–0.844, respectively). While emphysema, lower lobe location, and long intrapulmonary biopsy track were risk factors (OR = 1.981; CI = 1.172–3.344, OR = 3.505; CI = 2.718–5.650, and OR = 1.330; CI = 1.132–1.563, respectively) for immediate pneumothorax, upper lobe location and increased number of pleural punctures were independent risk factors (OR = 5.756; CI = 1.634–20.274 and OR = 3.738; CI = 1.860–7.511, respectively) for delayed pneumothorax. The rate of chest tube insertion was significantly (p < 0.001) higher in delayed pneumothorax.

Conclusion

Pneumothorax tends to occur immediately after CTLB in patients with emphysema, lower lobe lesion, and long intrapulmonary biopsy track. Further attention and warnings are needed for those with multiple punctures of small lesions involving upper lobes due to the possibility of delayed development of pneumothorax and higher requirement for chest tube drainage.

Introduction

The demand for lung biopsy is growing due to an increase in detection of lung tumor in screening and the need for molecular and genomic profiling of non-small cell lung cancer [13]. Among various imaging tools including CT, fluoroscopy, and ultrasound, CT is the preferred guidance method for transthoracic lung biopsies due to its high spatial and contrast resolution [46]. Pneumothorax is one of most frequent and potentially dangerous complication associated with this procedure [7]. A timely diagnosis of pneumothorax is clinically important for management of patients.

Risk factors for pneumothorax after transthoracic lung biopsy have been examined widely. Among the known risk factors, some are consistent whereas others are inconsistent or even contradictory across published studies, probably owing to various baseline characteristics, biopsy techniques, and analytic methods [812]. Although biopsy related pneumothorax frequently occurs during or immediately after procedure, pneumothorax can be identified in the follow-up chest radiographs or even after discharge due to chest pain or dyspnea (delayed pneumothorax) [13, 14]. In many institutions, biopsy is performed as an outpatient procedure with early discharge [15, 16]. Effective monitoring of patients after procedure requires detection of patients who are at risk of delayed development of pneumothorax. Most previous studies regarding pneumothorax have focused on incidence rates and overall risk factors. Only a few studies have given attention to the developing time of pneumothorax [1719]. Therefore, the incidence, risk factors, and clinical significance of delayed pneumothorax are not well known.

Since CTLBs were performed in inpatient setting at our institution, the precise rate of delayed pneumothorax could be obtained. The purpose of this study was to determine the risk factors and clinical significance of delayed pneumothorax after CTLB, compared to those of immediate pneumothorax.

Methods

This study was approved by Institutional Review Board of Gyeongsang National University Changwon Hospital. The requirements for written informed consent were waived owing to the retrospective nature of the study.

Study population

Between March 2010 and September 2015, 578 consecutive patients underwent CT-guided transthoracic biopsy conducted by two thoracic radiologists (with 16 and 7 years of experience in image-guided biopsy). After exclusion of 42 patients (28 with pleural or mediastinal lesions, nine with multiple lung biopsy during the same admission period, three with ipsilateral chest tube insertion, and two cases of technical failure), 536 patients who underwent lung biopsy were enrolled. There were 372 males and 164 females with a mean age of 65.8 (range, 18–90) years. In all patients, the platelet count exceeded 100,000/ μL, and the prothrombin time and activated partial prothrombin time were within normal limits. CTLB was performed in the inpatient setting. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients before undergoing procedures.

Biopsy procedure and chest radiographic follow-up

Procedures were performed under the guidance of 16-slice MDCT scanner (LightSpeed 16, GE Healthcare). An 18-gauge core needle (Bard Magnum, Covington) with an automated biopsy gun was used in all cases. The procedures were performed with patients in prone, supine, oblique, or lateral decubitus positions depending on lesion location. After puncturing the skin, the patients were instructed to hold their breath at a normal expiration and the pleural puncture was subsequently made. The position of the needle tip was confirmed by obtaining limited CT images of 3–5 mm thickness around the lesion. After completion of tissue sampling, all patients underwent immediate CT scanning on the table to detect procedure-related complications. Patients were asked to lie with the puncture site down and coughing and ambulation was discouraged for the first 4 h. Inspiration upright posteroanterior chest radiograph was routinely performed at 4 h after procedure and prior to discharge. However, depending on patients’ condition, the examination time was modified or additional chest radiographs were obtained. If no major complications were detected, patients were discharged within 24 h after admission. A drainage catheter or chest tube was inserted in symptomatic patients when displaced lateral visceral pleural line was visible on chest radiographs. An overall flow diagram of the methodology undertaken in the study is presented in Fig 1.

Fig 1. Flow diagram of the study.

Fig 1

Data collection

Pneumothorax was considered to be “immediate” if it was detected during the procedure or in immediate post-biopsy chest CT scan. Pneumothorax was considered to be “delayed” when it was first detected in follow-up chest radiographs after biopsy.

Patient’s age and gender, lesion size, lesion location (upper lobe vs. middle/lower lobe), lesion type (solid nodule/mass vs. consolidation/GGO), pathologic results (benign vs. malignancy), number of pleural punctures, pleural puncture angle (vertical vs. oblique), length of intrapulmonary biopsy track, needle indwelling time, and the presence or absence of emphysema in the affected lobe were compared among different groups (no pneumothorax, total pneumothorax, immediate pneumothorax, and delayed pneumothorax). The rates of chest tube insertion between immediate and delayed pneumothorax were compared. Patients’ demographics, lesion characteristics, and procedure-related variables are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1. Demographics, lesion characteristics, procedural factors, and incidence of chest tube insertion.

Variables All patients (n = 536) No PNX (n = 375) Total PNX (n = 161) Immediate PNX (n = 135) Delayed PNX (n = 26)
Age, yr (range) 65.8 (18–90) 65.4 (18–86) 66.8 (31–90) 66.9 (31–90) 66.5 (50–88)
Male: female 372:164 254: 121 118: 43 100: 35 18: 8
Lesion size, cm (range) 4.34 ± 2.19 (0.7–14) 4.63 ± 2.29 (0.7–14) 3.68 ± 2.29 (1.0–10.8) 3.76 ± 1.83 (1.4–10.8) 3.26 ± 1.44 § (1.0–7.3)
Lesion location, upper: middle/lower 281:255 214:161 67:94 46:89 21:5 §
Lesion type, solid: lepidic 473: 63 324: 51 149: 12 123: 12 26: 0
Emphysema in affected lobe, n (%) 205 (38.35%) 129 (34.40%) 76 (47.20%) 65 (48.15%) 11 (42.31%)
Final diagnosis, malignancy: benign 337: 199 231: 144 106: 55 88: 47 18: 8
No. pleural puncture, mean (range) 1.38 ± 0.71 (1–4) 1.33 ± 0.69 (1–4) 1.48 ± 0.75 (1–4) 1.41 ± 0.71 (1–4) 1.85 ± 0.83 § (1–3)
Pleural puncture angle, vertical: oblique 432: 104 307:68 125: 36 102: 33 23: 3
Intrapulmonary biopsy track, cm (range) 1.55 ± 1.45 (0.1–7.0) 1.43 ± 1.43 (0.1–6.7) 1.85 ± 1.44 (0.1–7.0) 1.80 ± 1.48 (0.1–7.0) 2.15 ± 1.22 § (0.2–4.8)
Needle indwelling time, sec (range) 142.94 ± 57. 54 (55–585) 143.19 ± 59.61 (64–585) 142.37 ± 52.58 (55–486) 143.34 ± 52.18 (55–486) 137.35 ± 55.37 (84–333)
Chest tube insertion, N (%) 14 (2.61%) 0 14 (8.70%) 9 (6.67%) 5 (19.23%) **

PNX, pneumothorax

Data are presented as mean ± SD or No (range) unless otherwise specified.

†Significant difference compared with patients without pneumothorax.

‡Significant difference compared with patients without pneumothorax.

§Significant difference compared with patients without pneumothorax.

**Significant difference compared with patients with immediate pneumothorax.

Statistical analysis

Factors related to patients, lesions, and procedures were compared via bivariate analyses using the two-sided Student’s t-test or Mann-Whitney U test for numeric values and chi-square test for categorical values. The factors that were significant in the bivariate analyses were used as variables in multivariate logistic regression to identify independent risk factors for pneumothorax. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs were calculated. Differences were considered significant at p < 0.05. Statistical analyses were performed using commercial software (SPSS, version 24.0, SPSS Inc.).

Results

Pneumothorax developed in 161 patients (30.0%). They include 135 cases (83.9%) of immediate pneumothorax and 26 cases (16.1%) of delayed pneumothorax. The initial follow-up chest radiograph taken at 4 h after procedure revealed persistence of immediate pneumothorax in 55 of 135 cases (40.7%). 12 cases (12/26, 46.2%) of delayed pneumothorax were detected on the initial follow-up chest radiograph. 14 cases was identified more than 4 h after biopsy. The cumulative incidence of pneumothorax according to the time of detection is presented in Table 2.

Table 2. The cumulative incidence of pneumothorax (PNX) according to the time of detection (n = 161).

Time Number of patients (cumulative %)
0 (Immediate PNX) 135 (83.9%)
≤ 4 h 12 (91.3%)
≤ 8h 3 (93.2%)
≤ 16h 6 (96.9%)
≤ 24 h 3 (98.8%)
> 24 2 (100%)

PNX, pneumothorax

In univariate analysis, the pneumothorax group had smaller lesions (p < 0.001), middle/lower lobe location (p = 0.001), longer intrapulmonary needle track (p = 0.002), increased number of pleural punctures (p = 0.02), and emphysema (p = 0.009), compared to the group without pneumothorax. Immediate pneumothorax was associated with smaller lesions (p < 0.001), middle/lower lobe location (p < 0.001), longer intrapulmonary needle track (p = 0.01), and emphysema (p = 0.007), compared to the group without pneumothorax. Delayed pneumothorax group had smaller lesion (p < 0.001), upper lobe location (p = 0.02), and increased number of pleural punctures (p < 0.001), compared to the group without pneumothorax (Table 1). Age, gender, type of lesion, pleural puncture angle, pathological results, and needle indwelling time did not show any differences between groups with and without pneumothorax.

In multivariate analysis, lesion size (odds ratio [OR] = 0.779; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.690–0.878), middle/lower lobe location (OR = 2.344; CI = 1.524–3.610), long intrapulmonary biopsy track (OR = 1.25; CI = 1.139–1.541), increased number of pleural punctures (OR = 1.604; CI = 1.153–2.235), and presence of emphysema in affected lobe (OR = 2.042; CI = 1.255–3.322) were risk factors for pneumothorax (Table 3). Risk factors for immediate pneumothorax were lesion size (OR = 0.813; CI = 0.717–0.922), middle/lower lobe location (OR = 3.505; CI = 2.718–5.650), long intrapulmonary biopsy track (OR = 1.330; CI = 1.132–1.563), and emphysema (OR = 1.981; CI = 1.172–3.344) (Table 3). Risk factors for delayed pneumothorax were lesion size (OR = 0.610; CI = 0.441–0.844), upper lobe location (OR = 5.756; CI = 1.634–20.274), and increased number of pleural punctures (OR = 3.738; CI = 1.860–7.511) (Tables 3 and S1). Emphysema and long intrapulmonary needle track were not risk factors for delayed pneumothorax. The intrapulmonary needle track was significantly longer in the upper lobes than in the middle/lower lobes (1.81 ± 1.56 cm vs. 1.27 ± 1.25 cm, p < 0.001) in delayed group.

Table 3. Multivariate analysis of risk factors for development of pneumothorax.

Total PNX Immediate PNX Delayed PNX
Lesion size (cm) 0.779 (CI = 0.690–0.878) 0.813 (CI = 0.717–0.922) 0.610 (CI = 0.441–0.844)
Middle/lower lobe: Upper lobe 2.344 (CI = 1.524–3.610) 3.505 (CI = 2.178–5.650) 0.174 (CI = 0.049–0.612)
Emphysema in affected lobe 2.042 (CI = 1.255–3.322) 1.981 (CI = 1.172–3.344)
No. of pleural punctures 1.604 (CI = 1.153–2.235) 3.738 (CI = 1.860–7.511)
Intrapulmonary biopsy track (cm) 1.325 (CI = 1.139–1.541) 1.330 (CI = 1.132–1.563)

PNX, pneumothorax

Data are presented as odds ratios (95% confidence interval [CI]).

No pneumothorax group was used as the reference.

Fourteen of 161 cases (8.7%) of pneumothorax required chest tube or drainage catheter placement. Among them, 9 cases were in immediate group and 5 cases were in delayed group. The rate of chest tube insertion was significantly higher in delayed group (19.2%) than in immediate group (6.7%) (P < 0.001). Among 9 cases of immediate pneumothorax requiring chest tube, tube insertion was conducted immediately after biopsy procedure in 2 cases. In 7 cases, tube insertion was conducted after the initial 4 h follow-up chest radiographs. When comparing chest tube insertion rates between immediate pneumothorax that was persistently shown on initial follow-up chest radiographs (7/55, 12.7%) and delayed pneumothorax (5/26, 19.2%), the difference was not significant.

Discussion

In the present study, pneumothorax developed in 30% of CTLB procedures, comparable to previous studies [9, 20]. Of all cases of pneumothorax, 16.1% was delayed occurrence. In other studies involving delayed pneumothorax, the proportion ranged from 7.1% to 29.6% of the overall rate of pneumothorax [1721].

Among variables contributing to the risk of pneumothorax, factors other than small lesion size remain controversial [9, 19, 2124]. Our study showed small lesion size as the only consistent factor related to both immediate and delayed pneumothorax. However, lobar location of the lesion was the most powerful variable in each group. The second most powerful variable was emphysema in affected lobe in immediate pneumothorax and the number of pleural punctures in delayed pneumothorax.

Lower lobe location is known to be a risk factor for pneumothorax owing to the greater mobility of lower lobes [2528]. Significance of lesion location on delayed pneumothorax has not been demonstrated due to sparsity of related studies. A study by Choi et al. assessing risk factors for delayed pneumothorax failed to demonstrate the significance of lesion location as a contributing factor [17]. However, 10 of 15 cases of delayed pneumothorax occurred in upper lobes, while lesion distribution in the total population showed almost equal distributions (upper vs. middle/ lower = 242 vs. 216). Mills et al. reported that the left upper lobe location was an independent risk factor for pneumothorax, in contrast to other studies, with delayed pneumothorax contributing to about one-third (66/253, 29.6%) of total pneumothorax in their study group [21]. Traill et al. reported their experience with two cases of pneumothorax occurring 26 and 36 hours after the procedure, in which each target lesion was located in the left and the right upper lobes, respectively [13]. Therefore, lesion location as a risk factor for delayed pneumothorax may differ from that in previous studies in which all cases of pneumothorax were included regardless of the onset time. Pleural injury involving lower lobes with higher aeration and ventilatory movement may lead to early appearance of pneumothorax. Conversely, pulmonary air in the upper lobes with less movement may escape slowly, resulting in late appearance of pneumothorax.

The risk of pneumothorax increases with increasing number of pleural punctures [2931]. In the present study, the number of pleural punctures was related only to delayed pneumothorax. Conversely, emphysema was an independent variable related only to immediate pneumothorax; and the results were consistent with previous studies [17, 19]. Choi et al. found a significantly higher risk of immediate pneumothorax in patients with emphysema [17]. In contrast, the absence of an emphysema correlated with an increased rate of delayed pneumothorax. The disruption of dilated air spaces and the lack of elastic recoil in emphysematous lung may prevent rapid sealing of the air leak, resulting in early manifestations of pneumothorax [32, 33]. Meanwhile, the elastic recoil of the normal lung parenchyma and pleura over the lesion may seal the small opening of the pleura initially to prevent pneumothorax [17]. Subsequent weakening of elastic recoil or multiple openings in normal pleura by multiple punctures may facilitate late presentation of pneumothorax. Therefore, it is speculated that pneumothorax appears immediately or later in CTLB depending on the speed of air leakage, which is affected by intactness of elastic recoil, the severity of injury, and expansibility of the targeted lung and overlying pleura.

In the present study, delayed pneumothorax showed higher requirement of chest tube drainage, than immediate pneumothorax (19.2% vs. 6.7%). Similar results were reported in previous studies regarding delayed pneumothorax [17, 20, 21]. However, since immediate and delayed pneumothorax were detected using different modalities, chest tube insertion rates between the two groups should not be directly compared. More than half of immediate pneumothorax was resolved quickly. Only 40.7% of immediate pneumothorax remained in initial follow-up chest radiographs and 12.7% of those cases required chest tube placement. Noh et al. reported similar results in which only 38% of CT detected pneumothorax showed persistence in follow-up chest radiographs at 4 h after biopsy and 21% of them required chest tube drainage [20]. Such results imply that a significant number of cases with immediate pneumothorax represent transient air leak via needle insertion site and resolve quickly when small pleural blood clots formed. In the contrary, immediate pneumothorax that is persistent on follow-up chest radiograph and delayed pneumothorax may represent continuous air leak, thus often requiring chest tube drainage. Therefore, clinical significance of delayed pneumothorax may be similar to that of immediate pneumothorax that is shown on initial follow-up chest radiograph obtained 4 h after procedure.

Our study has several limitations. First, the study was based on single institution and population of non-immediate cases were relatively small. Further studies with larger populations are required to corroborate our results. Second, due to retrospective study design, there may have been unidentified bias. Third, immediate and delayed pneumothorax was detected in CT and chest radiographs, respectively. We did not routinely acquire chest radiographs earlier than 4 h after procedure. However, this is common practice pattern in CTLB since it is not practical to obtain chest radiographs immediately after biopsy CT [20, 34]. Fourth, immediate and non-immediate pneumothorax was considered mutually exclusive but both events possibly occurred in a same patient. Therefore, each pneumothorax group was compared with the non-pneumothorax group.

In conclusion, pneumothorax tends to occur immediately after CTLB in patients with emphysema, lower lobe lesion, and long intrapulmonary biopsy track. Further attention and warnings are needed for those with multiple punctures of small lesions involving upper lobes due to the possibility of late development of pneumothorax and higher requirement for chest tube drainage.

Supporting information

S1 Table. Multivariate analysis of risk factors for delayed pneumothorax using immediate pneumothorax group as the reference.

(DOCX)

Abbreviations

CTLB

CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy

CT

Computed tomography

MDCT

Multi-detector computed tomography

GGO

Ground-glass opacity

OR

Odds ratio

CI

Confidence interval

Data Availability

All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information file.

Funding Statement

The authors received no specific funding for this work.

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Decision Letter 0

Muhammad Adrish

15 Jul 2020

PONE-D-20-19268

Pneumothorax after CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy: A comparison between immediate and delayed occurrence

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Jeon,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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PLOS ONE

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

**********

3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

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Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

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Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: I read with intrest the manuscript.

Authors wrote a very good article. Congrats

Below only some suggestions:

1. introduction: wello wrote

2. Methods and results: are clear

3. Discussion: I appreciate the discussion , if you can improve with these two suggestions:

3a. compare with other data of literature

3b. the possible role of ultrasound. There are interesting use of ultrasound in thoracic diseases and dignosis (cite : Di Gennaro F, et al. Potential Diagnostic Properties of Chest Ultrasound in Thoracic Tuberculosis-A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(10):2235. Published 2018 Oct;

Bobbio F, et al. Focused ultrasound to diagnose HIV-associated tuberculosis (FASH) in the extremely resource-limited setting of South Sudan: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 2019;9(4):e027179. Published 2019 Apr 2.)

Discuss the possible role of Ultrasound also as future persepctive.

Reviewer #2: In the present manuscript, the authors compared the risk factors for immediate and delayed pneumothorax after CT guided lung biopsy.

Major comments

The authors have not mentioned the reference category used for estimating the odds ratio of immediate and delayed pneumothorax. The immediate pneumothorax is mostly detected during the procedure and the diagnosis of delayed pneumothorax required subsequent X-ray. Therefore, it will be more useful if the authors look for the risk of delayed pneumothorax using the immediate pneumothorax as a reference category and the results may change.

Minor comments:

• 1.Statistics. The authors mentioned “The factors that were significant in the univariate analyses”. It should be a bivariate analysis.

• 2. Table1.

o It appears that the intrapulmonary biopsy track distances were not “normally distributed”. Hence, the use of the Student’s-t test for comparison was inappropriate.

o When the parameters were significantly different between total pneumothorax and without pneumothorax, the use of separate comparison of immediate and delayed pneumothorax and without pneumothorax is unnecessary duplication of results. It will be more useful to evaluate whether these parameters were significantly different between early and delayed pneumothorax cases.

o Do the distributions of gender and lesion type in groups were comparable?

Discussion

The authors mentioned “the elastic recoil of the normal lung parenchyma and

pleura over the lesion may seal the small opening of the pleura initially to prevent

pneumothorax” (page no 13). The elastic recoil of the lung and chest wall are in the opposite direction, how elastic recoil will prevent the pneumothorax.

**********

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Francesco Di Gennaro

Reviewer #2: No

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PLoS One. 2020 Aug 24;15(8):e0238107. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238107.r002

Author response to Decision Letter 0


27 Jul 2020

Reviewer #1:

I read with interest the manuscript.

Authors wrote a very good article. Congrats

Below only some suggestions:

1. introduction: well wrote

2. Methods and results: are clear

3. Discussion: I appreciate the discussion, if you can improve with these two suggestions:

3a. compare with other data of literature

--> Thank you for your suggestion.

There are a few articles regarding delayed pneumothorax in CT-guided biopsy, so we compared our results with that data. We highlighted the comparison in our manuscript.

3b. the possible role of ultrasound.

--> We added a short statement including the role of USG in lung biopsy in Introduction. We also added the article you mentioned to our reference list.

There are interesting use of ultrasound in thoracic diseases and diagnosis (cite : Di Gennaro F, et al. Potential Diagnostic Properties of Chest Ultrasound in Thoracic Tuberculosis-A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(10):2235. Published 2018 Oct;

Bobbio F, et al. Focused ultrasound to diagnose HIV-associated tuberculosis (FASH) in the extremely resource-limited setting of South Sudan: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 2019;9(4):e027179. Published 2019 Apr 2.)

Discuss the possible role of Ultrasound also as future persepctive.

Thank you very much for your insightful comments and suggestions which helped us improve the quality of our manuscript significantly.

Reviewer #2:

In the present manuscript, the authors compared the risk factors for immediate and delayed pneumothorax after CT guided lung biopsy.

1) Major comments

The authors have not mentioned the reference category used for estimating the odds ratio of immediate and delayed pneumothorax. The immediate pneumothorax is mostly detected during the procedure and the diagnosis of delayed pneumothorax required subsequent X-ray. Therefore, it will be more useful if the authors look for the risk of delayed pneumothorax using the immediate pneumothorax as a reference category and the results may change.

--> Thank you for your suggestion.

For estimating the odds ratio of immediate and delayed pneumothorax, we used “no pneumothorax group” as our reference. The reason we used “no pneumothorax group” instead of “immediate pneumothorax group” was mentioned in limitations of the study in Discussion section.

Immediate and delayed pneumothorax are considered mutually exclusive. However, we thought both events could possibly occur in a same patient in reality. For example, when a patient had the pleura punctured twice or more, one puncture site could cause immediate pneumothorax and another puncture site could cause delayed pneumothorax. (However, we cannot discriminate the two types of pneumothorax. Therefore, such case may be considered as immediate pneumothorax which persists on follow-up chest X-rays). Another example is when immediate pneumothorax develops, resolves soon, then develops again (delayed pneumothorax). However, we may also consider such case as immediate pneumothorax which is persistent on follow-up X-rays.

We also had the same question you mentioned. Therefore, we looked for the risk factors of delayed pneumothorax using the immediate pneumothorax as a reference. Lobar location of the lesion and No. of pleural punctures were revealed as risk factors of delayed pneumothorax. Lesion size did not show statistical significance. When immediate pneumothorax group was used as the reference, the association between delayed pneumothorax and lobar location of lesion was shown to be greater.

Multivariate analysis of risk factors for delayed pneumothorax

Middle/lower lobe: upper lobe 0.074 (CI = 0.022-0.248)*

No. of pleural punctures 2.672 (CI = 1.477-4.837)*

* Immediate pneumothorax was used as the reference group.

Data are presented as odds ratios (95% confidence interval [CI]).

We will provide this result in the Supplemental information.

Minor comments:

1.Statistics. The authors mentioned “The factors that were significant in the univariate analyses”. It should be a bivariate analysis.

--> Thank you for your suggestion. We agree with the reviewer. Therefore, we corrected the term ‘univariate’ to ‘bivariate’.

2. Table1.

o It appears that the intrapulmonary biopsy track distances were not “normally distributed”. Hence, the use of the Student’s-t test for comparison was inappropriate.

--> We agree with the reviewer. Since the length of intrapulmonary biopsy track distances did not show normal distribution, we recalculated using Mann-Whitney U test. The differences between groups were significant (except between immediate and delayed pneumothorax, which was not included in our manuscript).

No PNX (n=375) vs. Total PNX (n=161), p <0.001

No PNX (n=375) vs. Immediate PNX (n=135), p = 0.005

No PNX (n=375) vs. Delayed PNX (n=26), p = 0.004

(Immediate PNX (n=135) vs. Delayed PNX (n=26), p = 0.118)

* PNX = pneumothorax

3. When the parameters were significantly different between total pneumothorax and without pneumothorax, the use of separate comparison of immediate and delayed pneumothorax and without pneumothorax is unnecessary duplication of results. It will be more useful to evaluate whether these parameters were significantly different between early and delayed pneumothorax cases.

--> Thank you for your suggestion. From our experience, we thought that several inconsistent risk factors for pneumothorax in previous literatures are, at least partly, owing to not considering the developing time of the pneumothorax. Therefore, we tried to see the risk factors for immediate and delayed pneumothorax separately. In statistics, we compared each pneumothorax group with no pneumothorax group for reasons we explained in your major comments.

4. Do the distributions of gender and lesion type in groups were comparable?

--> Thank you for your suggestion. We rechecked our data. There were no differences in the distributions of gender and lesion type between groups.

5. Discussion

The authors mentioned “the elastic recoil of the normal lung parenchyma and

pleura over the lesion may seal the small opening of the pleura initially to prevent pneumothorax” (page no 13). The elastic recoil of the lung and chest wall are in the opposite direction, how elastic recoil will prevent the pneumothorax.

--> We agree with the reviewer that the elastic recoils of the lung and chest wall act in the opposite direction. However, we meant elastic recoil of “the lung and visceral pleura”. Intact elastic recoil makes punctured pleural hole become smaller. We added a reference for the description.

Thank you very much for your insightful comments and suggestions which helped us improve the quality of our manuscript significantly

Attachment

Submitted filename: Reviewers_PLOS_ONE_reply3.docx

Decision Letter 1

Muhammad Adrish

11 Aug 2020

Pneumothorax after CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy: A comparison between immediate and delayed occurrence

PONE-D-20-19268R1

Dear Dr. Jeon,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Muhammad Adrish

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

**********

2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: I appreciate your manuscript

Authors improved their manuscript

I think can be useful to scientific community

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

**********

7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: Yes: Francesco Di Gennaro

Reviewer #2: No

Acceptance letter

Muhammad Adrish

13 Aug 2020

PONE-D-20-19268R1

Pneumothorax after CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy: A comparison between immediate and delayed occurrence

Dear Dr. Jeon:

I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information please contact onepress@plos.org.

If we can help with anything else, please email us at plosone@plos.org.

Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access.

Kind regards,

PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff

on behalf of

Dr. Muhammad Adrish

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Associated Data

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    Supplementary Materials

    S1 Table. Multivariate analysis of risk factors for delayed pneumothorax using immediate pneumothorax group as the reference.

    (DOCX)

    Attachment

    Submitted filename: Reviewers_PLOS_ONE_reply3.docx

    Data Availability Statement

    All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information file.


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