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Needle Localization Biopsy of the Breast
Based on the results of your last mammogram, your physician is recommending that an area of your breast be biopsied in order to obtain further information. At Hartford Hospital, a biopsy can be accomplished utilizing an outpatient procedure known as needle localization biopsy. In the radiology suite a radiologist will obtain localizing mammogram x-rays to identify the area of the breast to be biopsied. Following this, a local anesthetic will be applied to the skin and a very tiny wire will be placed into the breast that acts as a pointer or arrow. At this point the wire is taped onto your breast and you are sent to the Operating Room with the x-rays. The surgeon will then use the films as well as the wire to help locate the precise area where the abnormality is located. Once located, a minimal amount of breast tissue is removed in order to accurately diagnose the abnormality.
This particular procedure requires intravenous sedation administered by the anesthesiologist and local anesthesia administered by the surgeon to the area of the breast prior to making an incision. Through the incision the suspected abnormality is removed and then returned to radiology where mammography is performed on the piece of breast tissue to make sure that the abnormality is present within that site. The surgeon is then informed in the Operating Room that the biopsy specimen does indeed contain the area in question and the incision is closed. You then will be brought to the Recovery Room. Please allow 2 to 3 days for the pathologist to make a definitive diagnosis as to whether there is any evidence of malignancy in the specimen.
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