Trial reportThe European respiratory journal2024
PET-CT-guided
Trial report in The European respiratory journal, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diagnostic performance and safety of image-guided pleural biopsy and medical thoracoscopy for undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Pooled it
- Combined PET-CT and VATS biopsy in pleural effusion: diagnostic accuracy, surgical factors, and prognosis-a retrospective study.General thoracic and cardiovascular surgery · 2026Article
- Lung Ultrasound for Pleural Effusion in Cancer Patients: Advanced Ultrasound for Pleural Lesions-A Narrative Review.Cancers · 2025Review
- Review
- Malignant Pleural Effusion: Diagnosis and Treatment-Up-to-Date Perspective.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2024Review
- Diagnosis of Pleural Mesothelioma: Is Everything Solved at the Present Time?Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2024Review
- Malignant pleural effusion: current understanding and therapeutic approach.Respiratory research · 2024Review
- Robotic Assistance in PET-CT-guided Lung Biopsies: Enhancing Accuracy and Clinical Outcomes.Indian journal of nuclear medicine : IJNM : the official journal of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, IndiaArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
22 authors at 10 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPleural biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosis of pleural malignancy but a significant proportion will have an inconclusive biopsy despite ongoing clinical suspicion of malignancy. We investigated whether positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) targeted pleural biopsy is superior to standard CT-guided pleural biopsy following an initial non-diagnostic biopsy.
methodsThe TARGET trial was a multicentre, parallel group randomised trial. Patients with a previous inconclusive pleural biopsy but an ongoing suspicion of pleural malignancy were randomised (1:1) to receive either CT-guided biopsy (standard care) or PET-CT followed by a targeted CT biopsy (intervention). The primary outcome was pleural malignancy correctly identified from the trial biopsy.
resultsBetween September 2015 and September 2018, 59 participants were randomised from eight UK hospital sites: 29 to CT-only followed by targeted biopsy and 30 to PET-CT followed by targeted biopsy. The proportion of pleural malignancy correctly identified was similar between the groups (risk ratio 1.03 (95% CI 0.83-1.29); p=0.77). The sensitivity of the trial biopsy to identify pleural malignancy was 79% (95% CI 54-94%) in the CT-only group
conclusionsThe results do not support the practice of PET-CT to guide pleural biopsies in patients with a previous non-diagnostic biopsy. The diagnostic sensitivity in the CT-only group was higher than anticipated and supports the practice of repeating a CT-guided biopsy following an inconclusive result if clinical suspicion of malignancy persists.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.