[Percutaneous computed tomography-guided biopsy in spinal diseases].

The use of percutaneous spinal biopsy (PSB) is on the increase in the field of interventional radiology. From July 1990 to December 1992 in the Department of Radiology in the Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, 74 patients (50 men and 24 women, mean age: 47 years old) underwent CT-guided spinal biopsy. This study was aimed at evaluating the diagnostic capabilities and accuracy of CT-guided percutaneous biopsy, which is considered as a simple, reliable and definitive method for histopathologic diagnosis. In our case histories, the total average accuracy rate, which varies according to the involved segment and to the kind of lesion to be examined, was 86%; in 14% of cases the excised tissue proved insufficient for histologic diagnosis. By allowing the histopathologic diagnosis to be made, CT-guided PSB proves a valuable technique to plan the treatment of primary/secondary neoplastic lesions or of inflammatory and dysmetabolic processes.