A retrospective study on diagnostic yield, tumor types, and complications of CT-guided bone biopsies.

Abstract

Background: CT-guided percutaneous bone biopsy is a minimally invasive and effective procedure for evaluating and diagnosing bone lesions.

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic yield, tumor types, and complication rates of CT-guided percutaneous bone biopsy procedures at a single tertiary institution.

Materials and methods: This retrospective study analyzed 508 biopsy procedures performed on 473 patients between March 2019 and March 2024. Patients were identified through the RIS/PACS system at Aarhus University Hospital. Data on diagnostic yield, tumor types, and complications were retrospectively reviewed and collected from electronic health and histopathology records. Complications were classified according to the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) and the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE) classification systems.

Results: The most common findings were metastatic lesions (n = 234), with breast cancer being the most frequent primary tumor. The procedures resulted in an overall diagnostic yield of 88.7% and a total complication rate of 5.5%.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that CT-guided percutaneous bone biopsy is a reliable method with a high diagnostic yield and a low complication rate. These findings support its continued role as a key diagnostic tool in the clinical management of bone lesions.