title: The safety and diagnostic value of frame-based and CT-guided stereotactic brain biopsy technique.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Histopathological diagnosis is always necessary to make an effective     treatment plan for intracranial mass lesions. This study aimed to evaluate the     diagnostic efficacy, and associated mortality and morbidity of CT-guided     stereotactic biopsy procedures in a large number of patients with intracranial     lesions.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 290 cases undergoing CT-guided     stereotactic biopsy for intracranial lesions were included in this retrospective     study. Clinical, radiological and histological data in patient records were     examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the patients was 46.6 years (range: 2-82 y).     Pediatric patients comprised 6.3% (n=13) of the total population. Examination of     paraffin embedded histological preparations revealed a tumoral mass in 240     (82.8%), a non-tumoral mass in 37 (12.8%), and non-definable lesions in 13     (4.5%). Therefore, the diagnostic value in this series was 95.5%. Postoperative     mortality rate was 0.8% (n=2). When histopathological diagnoses made after     biopsy and surgical resection were compared in 42 patients with available data,     a complete or partial agreement was present in 90.5%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings     support that frame based-stereotactic biopsy is a safe and valuable technique     that allows the neurosurgeon to obtain tissue samples for histopathological     diagnosis of intracranial mass lesions in almost any region.
authors.affiliation: Samsun Education and Research Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Samsun, Turkey. drmehmetersahin@gmail.com
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ersahin
authors.forename: Numan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Karaaslan
authors.forename: Mehmet Sabri
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Gurbuz
authors.forename: Tayfun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hakan
authors.forename: Mehmet Zafer
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Berkman
authors.forename: Osman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ekinci
authors.forename: Nazım
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Denizli
authors.forename: Fugen Vardar
authors.initials: FV
authors.lastname: Aker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D038361:Neuronavigation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000592:standards*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult