Background: The objectives of this study were to determine the frequency of imaging-histological discordance and to compare the frequency of carcinoma between discordant lesions at ultrasound (US)-guided core needle biopsy.
Materials and methods: From November 2009 to June 2012, we performed US-guided 14-gauge core needle biopsies on 989 breast lesions in 961 women. We reviewed 58 (5.8%) cases that had imaging-histological discordance after percutaneous breast biopsy and underwent subsequent excisional biopsy. The clinical, radiological, and histological findings were reviewed for those 58 cases.
Results: Among the 58 cases, subsequent excisions revealed 16 (27.5%) malignancies, which were categorized as 9 (15.5%) invasive ductal carcinomas, 4 (6.9%) malignant phyllodes tumors, and 3 (5.1%) ductal carcinomas in situ.
Conclusion: The malignancy rate of 27.5% suggests that surgical excision should be performed in those cases presenting with imaging-histological discordance after US-guided core biopsy. Careful correlation of clinical, radiological, and histological results as well as appropriate follow-up are essential. We have submitted a short version of this work as a poster presentation during the 2012 European Society of Surgery (ESS) Congress in Istanbul/Turkey.
Keywords: Breast cancer; Core biopsy; Imaging-histological discordance.