Skip to main content
Canadian Journal of Surgery logoLink to Canadian Journal of Surgery
. 2000 Dec;43(6):437–441.

Experience with the advanced breast biopsy instrumentation system

Vsevolod S Perelman *, Nicholas D Colapinto †,, Stephen Lee , Nancy K Down §, Dodie M Cook
PMCID: PMC3695199  PMID: 11129832

Abstract

Objectives

To report early experience with the advanced breast biopsy instrumentation (ABBI) system and to compare the results with those of other published studies.

Design

A nonrandomized case series.

Setting

An outpatient breast diagnostic centre at a large urban community hospital.

Patients

Thirty-four women; 27 had suspicious calcifications, 2 had a nonpalpable mass and 5 had both.

Intervention

The ABBI procedure to excise a breast lesion or obtain a representative sample for histologic examination.

Main outcome measures

Success of the procedure with respect to diagnosis, sample quality, technical problems, margins of tumour free tissue and patient satisfaction.

Results

Malignant tissue was diagnosed in 7 women (21%) and atypical ductal hyperplasia in 2 (6%). In all cancers, the obtained samples had malignant cells present at the margins or less than 1 mm away. Technical problems were encountered in 32% of cases. Manual extraction of the specimen was required in 21% of cases.

Conclusions

The preliminary data correlate well with those of other published results. Although it is possible that a small number of cases and a relatively high proportion of technical difficulties may represent a normal learning curve, there is a definite need for improvement of some ABBI components. ABBI does not appear to provide adequate margins of uninvolved tissue in patients with cancer and thus should not be used with curative intent. ABBI provides excellent quality samples for pathological study and good patient satisfaction. There are not yet enough data for meaningful comparison of ABBI with stereotactic core biopsy and excisional biopsy with needle localization.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (56.4 KB).


Articles from Canadian Journal of Surgery are provided here courtesy of Canadian Medical Association

RESOURCES