Onkologie. 2009:3(6):357-361

Interventional procedures in diagnosing mammary gland disease

Miroslava Skovajsová

Mamma centrum MEDICON, Praha

Minimally interventional diagnostic procedures in the mammary gland have become the gold standard in mammary gland diagnosis.

The aim of preoperative biopsies is to reduce the number of surgical diagnostic excisions as well as to establish a complete diagnosis

resulting in "therapeutic tailoring". In addition to standard core biopsies, mammotomy or vacuum assisted biopsy of the mammary gland

is performed in several selected screening centres in the Czech Republic. The benefit of both methods is enhancement of preoperative

diagnostic accuracy in determining the histological nature of, in particular, palpably negative lesions that are detected during the course

of screening imaging of the mammary gland. Another benefit of preoperative biopsies in general is ascertaining unclear findings on

mammography and, possibly, follow-up ultrasonography. Refining mammary gland diagnosis with preoperative biopsies reduces the

number of open surgical biopsies that, until recently, had been the main diagnostic procedure to confirm the histology of a suspected

lesion. Standard introduction of preoperative biopsies and, in particular, mammotomies results in an additional increase in the numbers

of noninvasive stages of cancer diagnosed, which implies a direct impact of the technologies used appropriately on reducing breast

cancer mortality rates.

Keywords: core biopsy, vacuum assisted biopsy, mammotomy, mammography stereotaxis, hand held biopsy.

Published: January 1, 2010  Show citation