title: Core needle biopsy of soft tissue tumors, CEUS vs US guided: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in the bioptic sampling of soft tissue tumors (STT) compared with unenhanced ultrasonography alone.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a prospective longitudinal study of 40 patients subjected to ultrasonography (US)-guided core needle biopsy (CNB) to characterize a suspected STT. Three series of bioptic samplings were carried out on each patient, respectively using unenhanced US alone and CEUS in both the areas of the tumor enhanced or not by the contrast medium. All bioptic samples underwent a histological evaluation and the results were analyzed by comparing the histology of the biopsy with the definitive diagnosis in 15 surgically excised samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  27 (67.5 %) of the 40 patients completed the entire study procedure; in 19 cases (70.3 %) the three bioptic samplings gave unanimous results, also when compared to the surgical specimen; in seven cases (25.9 %) use of CEUS allowed to obtain additional or more accurate information about the mass in question, compared to simple US guidance without contrast; in one patient (3.7 %) sampling obtained using unenhanced ultrasonography guidance and in the areas enhanced by the contrast agent had precisely the same results of the surgical specimen.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CEUS, due to its ability to evaluate microvascular areas, has proven to be a promising method in guiding bioptic sampling of soft tissue tumor, directing the needle to the most significant areas of the tumor. Given the small number of patients evaluated in our study, to achieve statistically significant results, it would be appropriate to obtain a larger sample size, since the very first results seem to be encouraging and to justify the increase of the population.
authors.affiliation: Radiology Section, Department of Medicine, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 2, 35128 Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Coran
authors.affiliation: Oncological Radiology Unit, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Maggio
authors.affiliation: Melanoma and Soft tissue Sarcoma Group, Veneto Oncological Institute IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rastrelli
authors.affiliation: Radiology Section, Department of Medicine, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 2, 35128 Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alberioli
authors.affiliation: Radiology Section, Department of Medicine, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 2, 35128 Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Shady
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Attar
authors.affiliation: Radiology Section, Department of Medicine, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 2, 35128 Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ortolan
authors.affiliation: Radiology Section, Department of Medicine, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 2, 35128 Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bortolanza
authors.affiliation: Pathology Unit, Veneto Oncological Institute IOV-IRCSS, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tosi
authors.affiliation: Pathology Unit, Veneto Oncological Institute IOV-IRCSS, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Montesco
authors.affiliation: Oncological Radiology Unit, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bezzon
authors.affiliation: Melanoma and Soft tissue Sarcoma Group, Veneto Oncological Institute IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo Riccardo
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Radiology Section, Department of Medicine, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 2, 35128 Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stramare
keywords: Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography; Core needle biopsy; Soft tissue tumors