Breast Interventional Procedures

What is an Interventional Procedure?

An interventional procedure (commonly known as a biopsy) involves obtaining tissue samples to determine whether abnormal cells are present. A biopsy is necessary when imaging studies cannot clearly define an anomaly, and can confirm benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous) tissue

Ultrasound guided biopsies

During the procedure, a radiologist uses ultrasound to guide a needle into tissue to obtain samples

Core needle biopsy

This biopsy extracts samples from an area of abnormal tissue.
A hollow needle withdraws tiny cores of tissue and is most often done using a local anesthetic.

Fine needle aspiration

A very fine needle is used to take fluid samples from cysts or lymph nodes.

Needle localizations

Needle-localized biopsies use very thin needles or guide wires to mark the area that needs to be surgically sampled. These are typically done using ultrasound to precisely place the wire, but may also be done using mammography.

X-ray guided biopsies

Stereotactic mammotome biopsy

This procedure uses mammographic imaging to precisely identify and biopsy an abnormality within the breast.