Radiology Rounds - September 2006 - Percutaneous Image-Guided Breast Biopsy

Percutaneous image-guided breast biopsies are rapid, minimally invasive procedures that make surgery unnecessary for a large majority (70-80%) of patients whose lesions will prove to be benign. The imageguided biopsies are performed under local anesthetic with no need for conscious sedation using a small incision that requires no stitches to close. The procedures do not deform the breast and cause minimal to no scarring on subsequent mammograms. Complications, such as hematoma and infection are rare, occurring in less than 1 per 1000. Patients diagnosed with breast cancer by image-guided biopsy will require fewer surgeries, on average, than those diagnosed by surgical biopsy. Thus, percutaneous image-guided breast biopsies are both medically preferable and cost-effective and have largely replaced surgical biopsies for pathologic diagnosis.