Purpose: To compare the accuracy of stereotactic fine needle aspiration cytologies (S-FNAC) and stereotactic core needle biopsies (S-CNB) in non-palpable breast lesions.
Material and methods: Between May 1993 and December 2000, 696 patients with mammographically detected lesions were biopsied both with S-FNAC and S-CNB. S-FNAC was performed with spinal needle 22- or 20-gauge and S-CNB with an automated 14-gauge gun.
Results: Of the 696 patients, 522 (75%) underwent breast surgery with postoperative histopathology. In all, 448 of these 522 women (86%) had malignant and 74 (14%) had benign lesions. S-FNAC revealed cancer in 254 (57%) and probable cancer in 48 (11%) (sensitivity 68%, specificity 99.6%) and S-CNB revealed cancer in 388 (87%) and probable cancer in 18 (4%) (sensitivity 90%, specificity 98.8%) of these 448 patients.
Conclusion: S-CNB was more accurate than S-FNAC in the diagnosis of non-palpable breast cancer.