title: Supratentorial masses: stereotactic or freehand biopsy?
abstract: CT-guided stereotactic biopsy is now an accepted method of tissue sampling in intracranial mass lesions but many surgeons still practise freehand burrhole biopsy. This study compares two groups of patients who had either stereotactically guided (n = 153) or freehand (n = 217) biopsy. Stereotactic biopsy has a lower incidence of both mortality (2.6%) and morbidity (1.3%) than freehand (7.8 and 7.8%) while diagnostic accuracy is 92.1 and 64.9%, respectively. The success rate for stereotactic biopsy is independent of the size and depth of the lesion while freehand biopsy is most successful for large, superficial lesions but its success never exceeds 88%. The stereotactic technique is superior to the freehand for all intracranial biopsies regardless of size or site.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Kenny
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Hitchock
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Teddy
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Palividas
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Harkness
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Meyer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques; D015173:Supratentorial Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D015996:Survival Rate; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed