Ultrasound guided excisional biopsy of non-palpable breast lesions: Technique and preliminary results

Objective: To develop a simple and accurate technique of incisional biopsy under ultrasonographic guidance to aid the histological diagnosis of non-palpable lesions of the breast Design: Open prospective study. Setting: Teaching hospital, Italy. Subjects: 35 patients who presented to this hospital with 42 non-palpable lesions diagnosed by echography or mammography during 18 month period 1995-1996. Interventions: Creation of a pocket in the breast in which the transducer of the ultrasound scanner was inserted to guide the surgeon while an excision biopsy was taken. Main outcome measures: Histological diagnosis, and quality of scar. Results: Mean (SD) diameter of the lesions was 11.6 (3.15) mm on the ultrasound scan, that of the biopsy specimens was 18.1 (5.82) mm, and that of the histological specimens 9.7 (3.52) mm. 29 lesions showed fibrocystic mastopathy with apocrine metaplasia, 10 fibroadenomas, 2 invasive ductal carcinoma, and 1 atypical duct hyperplasia. There were no unsightly scars. Conclusions: We have developed a simple and accurate technique for incisional biopsy under ultrasound control.