Ultrasound-guided mammotome biopsy of breast lesions in Taiwanese women

Background: The mammotome is a new breast biopsy instrument that is reported to be better than conventional methods in the percutaneous harvesting of breast tissue from patients in order to acquire a definite and more accurate diagnosis. Since these reports are based on studies in Western countries, our objective was to determine whether the mammotome could be applied for the diagnosis of breast lesions in Taiwanese women. Materials and methods: Under sonographic guidance, we included 60 suitable patients with breast lesions for minimally invasive biopsy in our study. The breast pattern, lesion characteristics, biopsy specimen quality and quantity, and the procedure complication rates were recorded and the descriptive profile for this new technique was composed. Results: Nearly half (46.7%) of the female patients were in the 40- to 49-year age group. The average diameter of the 60 lesions was 1.23 ± 0.46 cm. The ratio of malignant to benign lesions was about 1:5. The calcification retrieval rate was 57%. One-fifth of the subjects developed post-biopsy hematomas; most of them had fibrocystic disease and mammographically dense breast patterns. Conclusion: The mammographic breast patterns and the age distributions are quite different between Western and Taiwanese women. Although the vacuum-assisted mammotome technique has about the same diagnostic power as traditional biopsy techniques, we might expect somewhat different results when applying the mammotome on Taiwanese women.