Combined image guidance excision of non-palpable breast lesions

When mammogramography detects a non-palpable lesion the surgeons may be called upon to establish a diagnosis. Various techniques are currently employed. We describe a technique, which can be used both for diagnostic and for therapeutic procedures. The technique essentially involves localising the tip of a guide-wire, placed under mammographic guidance, with ultrasound scanning. This minimises many of the problems encountered with wire guided excision. We conducted a prospective non-randomised study using our combined image guidance technique (CIG) for patients undergoing diagnostic ( n=24) and therapeutic biopsy ( n=13). We found that significantly smaller diagnostic biopsy weights were achievable using CIG, compared to non-CIG techniques. Reduced biopsy weights are recommended by current guidelines.