ABSTRACT
Patients presenting at Mayo Hospital Chest Surgery Ward [Teaching Unit] who had mass lesion in the lung on X Ray were included in this study. Needle aspiration biopsy was done in all patients except for 05 cases. A total of 105 cases were studied between January 1997 to June 1999. Out of these, 80 were male, and 25 were female. There ages ranged between 10-90 years. Fine needle aspiration was also carried out in 101 out of 105 cases yielding an overall diagnostic value of 67.33°/a. It revealed tissue in 62 cases [61.39%], fluid in 28 cases [27.72%] Positive yield of needle aspiration biopsy in centrally located lesion was up to 23.53% whereas in peripherally located lesion mounted to 76.19%. This study revealed that needle aspiration biopsy of peripheral lung lesions or larger lesions is a very safe, quick and reliable method for establishing the diagnosis of mass chest. Moreover it showed better results in peripherally located lesions