Sonographically guided core needle biopsy of soft tissue neoplasms.
OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to evaluate the usefulness of sonography (US)-guided needle biopsy in the diagnosis of soft tissue masses.


METHODS
Thirty-seven patients with a mean age of 49 years were enrolled in the study. The size of the biopsy needle was selected according to the kind of tumor suspected (ie, primary or metastatic). In patients with suspected metastases, smaller biopsy needles were used; in patients with suspected primary tumors, larger needles were used so that larger specimens could be obtained. Prebiopsy color Doppler sonography (CDUS) was routinely used to guide the cutting needle to areas of the lesion showing sufficient vascularity. From 3 to 6 cores were obtained, depending on their quality. We compared the diagnoses yielded by the core biopsy and the final histopathologic analysis of the resected tumor by classifying the results as "concordant" or "discordant."


RESULTS
A total of 37 tumors were examined. Final diagnoses were 24 malignant tumors (6 metastases and 18 primary tumors) and 13 benign tumors. The lesions were diagnosed correctly as either benign or malignant in 35 of the 36 cases for which needle biopsy specimens were adequate, with only 1 misdiagnosis. The diagnoses were concordant in 33 cases (17 primary malignant tumors, 6 metastatic tumors, and 10 benign tumors) and were discordant diagnosis in the other 4 cases (1 primary malignant tumor and 3 benign tumors). No complications were attributable to the needle biopsy.


CONCLUSIONS
US-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy of soft tissue neoplasms is an easy, safe, and useful procedure. It can be considered a first-line procedure for the acquisition of tissue specimens adequate for histopathologic diagnosis.
Liu
Juhn-Cherng
JC
Department of Radiology, Taipei-Veterans General Hospital, No. 201, Sec. 2, Shih-Pai Road, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Chiou
Hong-Jen
HJ
Chen
Wei-Ming
WM
Chou
Yi-Hong
YH
Chen
Tain-Hsiung
TH
Chen
Winby
W
Yen
Chueh-Chuan
CC
Chiu
See-Ying
SY
Chang
Cheng-Yen
CY
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional