title: Percutaneous CT-guided vertebral bone biopsy in children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few published series are dedicated solely to CT-guided vertebral bone biopsy in children.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of our study was to review the diagnostic yield of CT-guided vertebral bone biopsy in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review of 26 consecutive CT-guided vertebral bone biopsies during a 7-year period in 24 children (16 girls and 8 boys), mean age 8.8 years (range 1-16 years) was performed at our institution. Procedures were reviewed for diagnostic accuracy, biopsy location, complications and final diagnosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-five of 26 biopsies (96%) were technically successful. Twenty-one of 26 biopsies were diagnostic (81%); 2/26 (8%) were false-negative removing non-lesional tissue, 2/26 (8%) were nondiagnostic, and 1/26 (4%) was technically unsuccessful. The diagnoses were as follows: 12/26 biopsies (46%) were osteomyelitis, 3/26 (11%) biopsies were Langerhans cell histiocytosis, 3/26 biopsies (11%) were normal bone, 2/26 (8%) biopsies were malignant tumors, and 1/26 (4%) biopsies was osteoblastoma. There was one self-limited, procedure-related complication: a small right-sided pneumothorax occurred in the setting of attempting to create a protective extrapleural biopsy window.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Percutaneous CT-guided vertebral bone biopsy can be performed safely in children with a high degree of diagnostic accuracy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. ballah@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Deddeh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ballah
authors.forename: Els
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nijs
authors.forename: Marc S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Ganesh
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Krishnamurthy
authors.forename: Anne Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Cahill
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061705:Image-Guided Biopsy / Q000379:methods*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015641:Radiography, Interventional / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013131:Spine / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*