[Biopsy of potentially malignant bone disorders using an electric minidrill; results of 215 diagnostic drillings]

The results were evaluated of cytological and histological examination of 215 bone biopsies taken with an electric minidrill in 211 patients with suspected malignancies in bones. 171 biopsies were taken in 167 patients with a known malignancy. In 78 cases a malignancy was demonstrated including 4 cases of a second primary malignancy. 44 biopsies of patients without a known primary malignancy resulted in 19 cases of malignancy, mainly metastatic disease. There were no primary bone tumours. Follow-up showed a false negative result in 5 patients, all with known primary malignancies. Follow-up of the patients without known malignancies showed no false negatives. The sensitivity of cytology alone was 92% and the sensitivity of histology alone was 76%. The combination of cytology and histology resulted in a sensitivity of 95%. The specificity of the procedure was 100%.