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Image Guided Biopsy

Image_Guided_Biopsy.pdf

It not is always possible to diagnose exactly what a lump detected by either your doctor or medical imaging scans is, without performing an image guided biopsy of the area. This may be a clinical decision by your doctor, or may be suggested by the radiologist at the time of reporting your initial scan.

The recommendation of a biopsy should not alarm you and often is precautionary to ensure correct diagnosis is made.

A biopsy is performed to remove cells from the lesion or area in question and these are then sent to be viewed under the microscope by a pathologist for a definitive answer.

At Norwest Medical Imaging our highly trained Radiologist can perform biopsy of various lesions using the guidance of our Ultrasound machine or CT scanner. Biopsy of Breast, Thyroid, Lung, Liver, Kidney and other masses can all be performed.

Using the image guidance ensures the needle is placed in the correct position and the sample of cells being taken is from within the lesion.

There is no preparation for most biopsies, however for some areas such as liver we may need the patient to cease blood thinning medication prior to the biopsy, as well as provide recent blood test results. After the biopsy you will be asked to avoid blood thinning medication, including aspirin.

Technique

For CT guided biopsies, you will be placed on the CT scanner, and a short, low dose scan targeting the area required will be performed. This is used to locate the lesion and plan the biopsy. For lesions visible under ultrasound, the ultrasound machine is used to locate the lesion. The Radiologist will then administer some local anesthetic to numb the area, before using the CT scanner / ultrasound machine to guide a needle to the exact location of the lesion before taking samples. The sampling is usually done 3-4 times, to ensure as many cells as possible are provided to the pathologist to view. With the use of local anesthetic and highly skilled radiologist, the procedure is generally very well tolerated.

Results

Your results will usually be available 2 -3 days after the biopsy, and will be sent direct from the pathology lab to your doctor. We highly recommend that you discuss all biopsy results with your doctor.