TRENDS AND RESULTS OF MAMMOGRAPHICALLY GUIDED BREAST BIOPSY DEPARTMENT OF RADIOLOGY, Breast biopsy is an integral part of breast care in the United States and has undergone significant change in the past several years with the acceptance of stereotactically guided breast biopsy as the modality of choice for most lesions. Although not all abnormalities are amenable to stereotactically guided biopsy because of location of the lesion and/or body habitus, the availability of the Bennett Coutour machine allows the majority of patients to have a successful stereotactic biopsy.
In the first eight months of 1996, 11 stereotactic breast biopsies were. During the first eight months of 1999, 38 stereotactic breast biopsies were performed at In the same time period, in 1996 35 needle localizations were performed. In 1999, 32 needle localizations were performed. Of these, however, 9 were secondary to stereotactic biopsies, i.e., 8 patients who had cancer diagnosed stereotactically required needle localization as part of breast conserving definitive surgery.
Biopsy Forceps(spike)
CNS lymphoma (1) B-cell type
CNS lymphoma (2) B-cell typeOne patient had a negative stereotactic biopsy result which was discordant with the imaging findings and underwent needle localization which showed cancer. Thus, in 1999, 23 primary needle localizations were performed.
The above results demonstrate a dramatic shift in the modality of choice for biopsy. In 1996, 76% of women having a breast biopsy had a surgical procedure. In 1999, only 38% of women having a breast biopsy had a (primary) surgical procedure.
In the United States, 80% of all breast biopsies are for benign disease. How experience compare? In 1996, 64% of the stereotactic biopsies and 69% of the needle localizations were for benign disease. In 1999, 68% of the stereotactic biopsies and 56% of the primary needle localizations were for benign disease. The positive yield for stereotactic biopsy has remained essentially constant indicating that the availability of this...