Stereotactic core needle biopsy of mammographic breast lesions as a viable alternative to surgical biopsy

Abstract

This study indicates excellent agreement between surgical and stereotactic needle biopsy findings. Stereotactic biopsy with a 14-gauge needle could obviate the need for surgical biopsy in certain women with radiologically benign, likely benign, and indeterminate lesions.

Diagnostic accuracy of large-core needle biopsy for nonpalpable breast disease: a meta-analysis

“…biopsy specimen can be explained by either complete removal of the lesion by the large-core needle biopsy (Dronkers, 1992;Mikhail et al, 1994) or by inadequate surgical excision (lesion not removed). Therefore, these overestimate cells were also reclassified as agreement cells.…”

Short-interval follow-up mammography versus immediate core biopsy of benign breast lesions: assessment of patient stress.

“…Periodic mammographic surveil lance has been shown to be effective in the management of such abnormalities [1,2]; however, the increasing availability of breast core biopsy has created controversy about the appropriate role of such biopsies in the evalua tion of these probably benign lesions. Series from the surgical literature have shown posi tive predictive values as low as 8% for core bi opsy [3,4]; authors of these studies have advocated the use of core biopsy instead of surveillance mammography.…”

“…Periodic mammographic surveil lance has been shown to be effective in the management of such abnormalities [1, 2]; however, the increasing availability of breast core biopsy has created controversy about the appropriate role of such biopsies in the evalua tion of these probably benign lesions. Series from the surgical literature have shown posi tive predictive values as low as 8% for core bi opsy [3,4]; authors of these studies have advocated the use of core biopsy instead of surveillance mammography.The suggestion has been made that needle biopsy should be used in lieu of periodic mammography to allay patient anxiety [5,6].Presumably, a definitive and timely diagnosis would entail less stress for the patient than would the uncertainty attending an extended period of surveillance.Becauseno previous empiric studies have focused on the relative stress experienced by women undergoing pe riodic mammographicsurveillanceas com pared with those undergoing immediate core biopsy, we conducted a retrospective, mailed survey to investigate this issue. …”

Stereotactic core-needle biopsy of the breast: a report of the Joint Task Force of the American College of Radiology, American College of Surgeons, and College of American Pathologists

“…23 In addition, imaging may have to be repeated to verify that the suspicious abnormality was removed at the time of the excisional biopsy. If the stereotactically guided CNB diagnosis is benign but a carcinoma is detected at that location within an established time interval (usually 2 years), the diagnosis is considered a false negative.…”

“…14,17 Many reports in the medical literature document the sensitivity and specificity of stereotactically guided CNB (Table 2). [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] Discrepancies in the published results may be caused by several factors, including basic definitions and methodology, case selection, gauge of the core biopsy needle used, and the number of specimens obtained. In general, better results have been reported when 14-gauge needles are used rather than smaller bore needles.…”