Excisional biopsy with wire localization of non palpable breast lesions: indications, technique and results
Keywords:
Non-palpable lesions, Wire-guided excision, MicrocalcificationsAbstract
Objectives: With the increasing use of screening mammography, more and smaller non-palpable lesions
are found, bringing the need of localize them for diagnostic and even therapeutic purposes. We describe
the surgical technique, indications and results with the well-known standard procedure of excision after
wire localization. Method: We retrospectively evaluated the result of 586 wire localizations between 1995
and 2004. The indications for the procedure were non-palpable mammographic abnormalities classified
according to BIRADS system. Results: The main indication for this procedure were microcalcifications in
63.7% ofthe cases (n = 373) followed by lumps, 37.2%. The mean age of these patients was 53 years (range 23-82 years). We observed an overall positive predictive value (PPV) for malignancy of 0.30 (177/586
cases). Benign fybrocistic changes was found as the most common pathological diagnosis (34.1%). Ninety
four per cent of the ductal carcinoma in situ were detected mammographically as microcalcifications.
Conclusions: The authors call attention for the use of a very careful and delicate surgical technique in
order to achieve the best results. Our experience confirm that the wire-guided excision of non-palpable
breast lesions is a safe and reliable diagnostic/therapeutic procedure.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Carlos Henrique Menke, Rodrigo Cericatto, Fernando Bittelbrunn, Gerson Jacob Delazeri
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