Stereotactic Breast Biopsy
Upright Biopsy
Services | Stereotactic Breast Biopsy
Occasionally a biopsy of the breast tissue may be required to further investigate a suspicious or abnormal appearance on your mammogram or breast ultrasound. If an abnormal area is seen on your mammogram, the radiologist will decide which biopsy technique is best to ensure that the target area can be sampled by biopsy.One of these techniques uses stereotactic guidance with mammography.
Stereotactic Guided Breast Biopsy offers an alternative to open surgical breast biopsy. It assists your doctor in diagnosing the cause of a lesion, lump, or calcifications found on your mammogram. This is generally as an area so small or deep that you cannot feel it.
Eighty percent of non-palpable (not felt) breast lesions are benign. Stereotactic breast biopsy is performed on an out-patient basis without the need for hospitalization or general anaesthesia. Unlike an open surgical biopsy, there is no significant scarring.
This procedure involves obtaining small samples of tissue from a specific area or areas within the breast.
This is done by using a hollow needle, which is precisely guided to the correct location via breast imaging (mammography) and computer coordinates.
Our staff will explain the procedure fully to you and you will have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have prior to the procedure.
During the biopsy your breast will be gently compressed similar to, but less than a mammogram, and remain immobilised throughout the procedure. The radiologist, nurse and breast radiographer will be with you for the duration of the procedure. Several images will be taken to ensure exact positioning. Two views are taken and are combined through a computerised digital system to create a "stereo image". The stereo images allow the radiologist to pinpoint the exact coordinates of the area of concern.
A biopsy sample will be acquired and the specimen will be sent to pathology testing. The results of the biopsy will be available from the referring doctor.