MRI-guided biopsy and aspiration in the head and neck: evaluation of 77 patients

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of MRI-guided percutaneous biopsy procedures of head and neck lesions using 0.23T open MRI with optical tracking.

A retrospective analysis of 77 patients (51 male, 26 female; mean age, 43 years; range, 11-88 years) who underwent MRI-guided percutaneous biopsy of a head and neck lesion was performed. Mean lesion diameter was 3 cm (range, 1-7.8 cm). Rapid gradient echo sequences were used for image guidance. 23/77 lesions were biopsied after intravenous gadolinium. Tissue sampling techniques included needle aspiration (n = 19) and core needle biopsy (n = 58). Outcome variables included technical success, diagnostic accuracy, procedure time and complications.

In all patients, a sufficient amount of tissue for pathological analysis was obtained. Pathological analysis diagnosed 41 malignant lesions and 36 benign lesions. In 42 cases, surgical correlation was available. In 35 cases, the final diagnosis was confirmed by imaging and clinical follow-up. MR-guided biopsy had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of 93.2%, 100%, 100%, 91.7%, and 96%, respectively. Procedure time was 29 min (range, 15-47 min). No major complications occurred.

MRI-guided biopsy of head and neck lesions has a high diagnostic performance and is safe in clinical practice.

• MRI-guided biopsy helps clinicians to assess patients with head&neck masses. • Differention of malignant and benign lesions is possible with 96% accuracy. • The safety profile of MRI-guided biopsy of head&neck lesions is favorable. • MRI guidance enables accurate biopsy without the use of ionizing radiation.