Publication:

A retrospective analysis of computed tomography guided biopsy in the diagnosis of primary bone tumors

Background Primary bone tumors account for a small yet significant number in the total incidence of tumors. Computed tomography (CT) guided percutaneous core biopsy is a novel yet significant step in the approach towards the diagnosis of bone tumors and is increasingly performed by orthopaedic oncologists around the world. This study is aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of CT guided biopsy in the diagnosis of primary bone tumors.

Methods Patients who underwent CT guided biopsy and subsequent excision for primary bone tumors from January 2008 to July 2015 were analysed. CT guided biopsy results were compared with post-operative histopathological reports to evaluate its sensitivity and specificity.

Results A total of 161 patients were included in the retrospective study. Among them, 147 were true positives, 7 were false negatives, 6 were true negatives and one was false positive. The sensitivity of CT guided biopsy in the diagnosis of primary bone tumor was 95.4 % with specificity of 85.7% with a diagnostic efficiency of 90.5%. The complication rate was 4.3%.

Conclusions CT guided biopsy is a safe, simple and effective procedure to rule out and rule in the diagnosis of primary bone tumors.