Objective     To investigate the clinical value and safety of computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous lung biopsy of solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs)in elderly patients(age≥65). Methods      We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 1 102 patients with SPNs by CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy in our hospital from January 4

2013 to April 30

2016. Patients were classified into elderly(age≥65) and non-elderly groups. The differences of age

smoking index (pack-years)

medical history

pathological findings and complications such as pneumothorax and bleeding were analyzed between the 2 groups. Results     Among the 1 102 patients

the elderly patients were 248 and non-elderly patients were 854. The proportion of elderly patients with cancer  (83.06%) was significantly higher than that in the non-elderly group（63.82%，P0.01）. Significantly lower proportion of benign tumors

infectious disease and nondiagnostic findings were found in the elderly than non-elderly groups (1.61% vs 4.57%

4.44% vs 11.83%

10.89% vs 19.79%

respectively

P0.05). Pneumothorax incidence after lung biopsy was significantly increased in the elderly group compared to non-elderly group (19.76% vs 14.40%

P0.05). There were no significant differences in the number of needle biopsy cases between outpatient and inpatient

gender

smoking

cancer history

proportion of patients with past history recording off

size of pulmonary nodules

pulmonary hemorrhage and pleural hemorrhage between the 2 groups. Conclusion     CT-guided percutaneous biopsy is advantageous for improved diagnostic accuracy and safety

and may serve as a useful tool for early diagnosis and better prognosis of elderly