If there is an area of concern, the radiologist may suggest a biopsy to exclude underlying cancer.
These are special procedures and are booked for another day.
The biopsy may either be done under ultrasound guidance or stereotaxis.
The ultrasound guided biopsy is done under local anaesthetic in the ultrasound room.
The radiologist uses the ultrasound probe to guide him to the lesion and he can actually watch the needle to confirm that he has biopsied the lesion.
The stereotactic biopsy, reguires a special biopsy apparatus attached to the mammogram unit and is currently only done at our Mount Edgecome and Mediclinic venues.
The patients sits on a chair and small xrays of the area of interest is taken , the area of concern is pin pointed and localized using special techniques and the exact position is determined by the computer and set for the radiologist to biopsy.
The procedure is quite accurate.
The specimens are then sent to the laboratory for further investigation and to check for cancer cells.
NB: Patients Must Bring Old X-Rays and scans for all procedures!