Percutaneous ultrasound guided uterine needle biopsy

OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety, accuracy and usefulness of percutaneous ultrasound guided uterine needle biopsy. SETTING: Transabdominal uterine biopsy was performed with an ultrasound directed biopsy gun. The biopsy was performed as an outpatient procedure under local anaesthesia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The safety, accuracy and clinical value of the procedure; a comparison of the clinical and ultrasound diagnoses with the biopsy and surgical histological diagnoses; and the effect of the biopsy result on the choice of treatment by the surgeon and patient. RESULTS: There were no complications. Accuracy was validated in all seven patients who subsequently had surgical procedures and more extensive myometrial histological investigation. Biopsy diagnosis improved clinical diagnosis in nine of the ten patients, and altered or assisted in the ultrasound diagnosis in eight of the ten patients. Decisions concerning choice of treatment by the doctor or patient were assisted by the biopsy result in seven patients. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous ultrasound guided uterine needle biopsy is a useful procedure in the diagnosis of myometrial disease.