Conclusions:
Ultrasound-guided PCNB is safe and effective in diagnosing pediatric
solid tumors, especially in malignancies.
INTRODUCTION
Obtaining specimen before treatment for diagnosis is important for
cancer treatment, especially for patients who might benefit from
neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Core needle biopsy (CNB) as an accurate and
less invasive method has been utilized widely in diagnosis of adult
tumors such as breast cancer1–3 and prostatic
cancer4,5. The use of CNB is limited in diagnosis of
pediatric solid tumors as people concern about the safety of the
procedure itself and the sufficiency of specimen for accurate diagnosis,
although previous studies suggest that CNB is both safe and
effective6–11. In recent years ultrasound-guided
percutaneous core needle biopsy (PCNB) has been used more and more
frequently in diagnostics of pediatric solid tumors in our center as it
is less invasive than an incisional biopsy and children are not exposed
to radiation under ultrasound. However, reports relating to its
reliability in clinical practice are limited. As pediatric solid tumors
are rare, most studies are done in small groups. Besides few researchers
used surgical pathology as the sole gold standard for success to assess
the accuracy of PCNB. Most used excisional pathological diagnoses as
well as follow-up outcomes to evaluate the success rate of CNB. In this
study, a 7-year retrospective study of children undergoing PCNB for
diagnosis of solid tumors at our center was conducted. Using surgical
pathology as the gold standard, we aim to investigate the reliability of
ultrasound guided PCNB in diagnosing pediatric solid tumors
METHODS