In many cases, tissue samples can be obtained without open surgery by utilizing interventional radiology techniques. Nearly all biopsies performed by Interventional Radiologists are “image guided needle biopsies.” This means that a needle is placed into an area of abnormality directly through the skin. The needle placement is confirmed with the use of a variety of equipment used by the radiologists including ultrasound (used most often), CT or X-ray fluoroscopy.
Needle biopsies are almost always performed as an outpatient with a short (one hour) observation period after.
A) Prostatic biopsy
Transrectal ultrasound guided (TRUS) biopsy
Doctors use this test to diagnose prostate cancer. They take samples of tissue from the prostate gland to look for cancer cells.
You might have an MRI scan before your transrectal ultrasound guided biopsy.
What it is
This is a type of needle biopsy to look for cancer cells in the prostate. Your doctor takes a series of small tissue samples from the prostate to examine under a microscope.
You usually have the biopsy through your back passage (rectum) using a transrectal ultrasound scanner.
During the biopsy
The doctor puts an ultrasound probe into your rectum to examine your prostate. To get the samples of prostate tissue, they push the fine needle along the ultrasound probe and into the prostate gland.
This might happen up to 12 times as the doctor takes the different tissue samples. The whole procedure takes about 20 minutes.How many treatments will it take?
The number of treatments depends on the individual. One or possibly more treatments, depending on the extent of the spider veins. The average number of treatments needed is usually three.
Side effects
Your prostate gland will bleed. And there is a risk of urine infection. Drinking plenty of fluid flushes out the blood and helps to stop you getting any infection. You will see blood in your urine, back passage and semen for a few weeks, but it won’t harm you.
B)Breast Biopsy
What is Ultrasound-Guided Breast Biopsy?
Lumps or abnormalities in the breast are often detected by physical examination, mammography, or other imaging studies. However, it is not always possible to tell from these imaging tests whether a growth is benign or cancerous.
A breast biopsy is performed to remove some cells from a suspicious area in the breast and examine them under a microscope to determine a diagnosis. This can be performed surgically or, more commonly, by a radiologist using a less invasive procedure that involves a hollow needle and image-guidance. Image-guided needle biopsy is not designed to remove the entire lesion but to obtain a small sample of the abnormality for further analysis.
Image-guided biopsy is performed by taking samples of an abnormality under some form of guidance such as ultrasound, MRI or mammography.
In ultrasound-guided breast biopsy, ultrasound imaging is used to help guide the radiologist’s instruments to the site of the abnormal growth.
What are some common uses of the procedure?
An ultrasound-guided breast biopsy can be performed when a breast ultrasound shows an abnormality such as:
a suspicious solid mass
a distortion in the structure of the breast tissue
an area of abnormal tissue change
How is the procedure performed?
Breast biopsies in our center are performed in an operating room with mild sedation anaesthesia to minimize pain and discomfort.
You will be positioned lying face up on the examination table or turned slightly to the side.
A local anesthetic will be injected into the skin and more deeply into the breast to numb it.
Pressing the transducer to the breast, the sonographer or radiologist will locate the lesion.
A very small nick is made in the skin at the site where the biopsy needle is to be inserted.
The radiologist, monitoring the lesion site with the ultrasound probe, will insert the needle and advance it directly into the mass.
Tissue samples are then removed using one of three methods:
In a fine needle aspiration, a fine gauge needle and a syringe withdraw fluid or clusters of cells.
In a core needle biopsy, the automated mechanism is activated, moving the needle forward and filling the needle trough, or shallow receptacle, with ‘cores’ of breast tissue. The outer sheath instantly moves forward to cut the tissue and keep it in the trough. This process is repeated three to six times.
After this sampling, the needle will be removed.
Once the biopsy is complete, pressure will be applied to stop any bleeding and the opening in the skin is covered with a dressing. No sutures are needed.
What are the benefits vs. risks?
Benefits
The procedure is less invasive than surgical biopsy, leaves little or no scarring and can be performed in less than an hour.
Ultrasound imaging uses no ionizing radiation.
Ultrasound-guided breast biopsy reliably provides tissue samples that can show whether a breast lump is benign or malignant.
Recovery time is brief and patients can soon resume their usual activities.
Risks
There is a risk of bleeding and forming a hematoma, or a collection of blood at the biopsy site. The risk, however, appears to be less than one percent of patients.
An occasional patient has significant discomfort, which can be readily controlled by non-prescription pain medication.
Any procedure where the skin is penetrated carries a risk of infection. The chance of infection requiring antibiotic treatment appears to be less than one in 1,000.
D) Thyroid Biopsy
What is Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy of the Thyroid?
During a fine needle aspiration biopsy of the thyroid, a small sample of tissue is removed from the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is located in front of the neck just above the neckline and is shaped like a butterfly, with two lobes on either side of the neck connected by a narrow band of tissue.
Nodules or abnormalities in the body are often detected by imaging examinations. However, it is not always possible to tell from these imaging tests whether a nodule is benign (non-cancerous) or cancerous.
A needle biopsy, also called a needle aspiration, involves removing some cells—in a less invasive procedure involving a hollow needle—from a suspicious area within the body and examining them under a microscope to determine a diagnosis.
What are some common uses of the procedure?
Thyroid biopsy is used to find the cause of a nodule in the thyroid gland.
When a nodule is detected, imaging tests may be performed to help determine if it is benign (non-cancerous) or malignant(cancerous). If imaging studies cannot clearly define the abnormality, a biopsy may be necessary.
