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Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London W12 0HS * Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Western Infirmary, Glasgow G11 6NT, UK
This excerpt was created in the absence of an abstract.
Percutaneous biopsy is quick, usually relatively easy to perform with a minimum of special equipment and, with its high diagnostic yield and low associated morbidity and mortality, is a key tool in the radiologist's armamentarium. Indeed, it is the single most frequently performed interventional procedure. A number of risks have been enumerated (Perrault et al, 1978; Westaby, 1980; Reichert et al, 1983; Whitmire et al, 1985; Lees, 1987), the most serious being severe bleeding, particularly, but not exclusively, in patients with a bleeding diathesis. The bleeding is thought to be related to needle size, and fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC), which, with improvements in cytology, is a reliable procedure (Lees et al, 1985), is thought to be safer than histological biopsy. However, there are frequently circumstances, such as diffuse organ disease, suspected unusual or benign neoplasms and lymphoma, where a core biopsy using a larger cutting needle is desirable in spite of some increased risk.
For liver biopsy, in particular, a number of alternative techniques to the percutaneous approach have been developed, the transjugular approach being the most favoured (Hanafee & Winer, 1967; Korshin et al, 1978; Bull et al, 1983; Colapinto, 1985).
Key Words: Coil embolization • Biopsy • "Biopty" needle
Received for publication June 27, 1991. Revision received October 2, 1991. Accepted for publication October 2, 1991.
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