Image-guided breast biopsy

Abstract

Image-guided biopsies may be used to diagnose nonpalpable, abnormal findings on a mammogram, ultrasound, or breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. Historically, image-guided open surgical biopsy was the customary diagnostic approach to these problems. Increasingly, percutaneous biopsy with image guidance is replacing open biopsy as the initial intervention to help plan patient management and, often, to plan definitive surgery. Given the importance of image-guided biopsy and its increasing role in clinical practice, a good understanding of image-guided biopsy options, their advantages and limitations, is an essential component of a breast surgical practice. This chapter will describe percutaneous X-ray, ultrasound and MRI breast needle biopsy techniques, preoperative needle localization, and imaging-pathology correlation while offering a framework for handling more complex situations when both occult and palpable findings coexist. © 2011 Springer Science + Business Media.