Fig. 1

a CT-guided core needle biopsy of a solitary suspected lesion in the right lower lobe, in a 56-year-old male patient with 6 pack-years smoking. b Showed the biopsy needle (arrow) inserted within the lesion, which was later pathologically confirmed to be pulmonary adenocarcinoma. The patient was in lateral position on the CT table. The needle-pleural angle (curved white arrow), which was the minimum angle formed by a line tangent to the pleura at the puncture point and a line drawn along the needle, was 63°. The length of the needle track from the pleura to the lesion was 14.4 mm. The dwell time was 660 s. c CT image after the removal of the biopsy needle showed pneumothorax (arrowhead), which continued to increase until the chest drainage catheter was inserted