Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 19, Issue 7 465-471, Copyright © 2000 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Ultrasonographically guided needle biopsy of benign and malignant soft tissue and bone tumors
W. Konermann, P. Wuisman, A. Ellermann and G. Gruber
Orthopaedic Hospital, Hessisch Lichtenau, Germany.
In 65 patients an ultrasonographically guided needle biopsy was performed
for histologic diagnosis of benign and malignant soft tissue and bone
tumors. On the basis of the histopathologic findings, a final diagnosis
could be made in 54 cases after sonographically guided needle biopsy of the
soft tissue tumor component. In addition, tumor grouping was possible in
seven cases; however, due to the small volume of the biopsy specimen,
further tumor differentiation proved to be unsuccessful. A definite
diagnosis was not possible in four patients, who had mainly cystoid tumors;
however, malignancy could be ruled out in three of these cases. The
decisive advantage of the ultrasonographically guided needle biopsy
procedure over what is known as a blind tumor biopsy is that the biopsy
needle can be positioned exactly by means of imaging control. The
ultrasound screen enables the user to monitor the biopsy procedure;
multiple biopsies of different parts of the tumor soft tissue component can
be performed using a single needle tract. No complications occurred in our
study. Because of the far-reaching consequences of ultrasonographically
guided needle biopsy, this type of procedure should be performed only at
tumor centers.
