Closed needle biopsy in the diagnosis of intracranial mass lesions.

A retrospective study was performed on 54 patients with intracranial mass lesions who underwent closed needle biopsy using freehand and stereotactic biopsy techniques. A diagnosis of brain neoplasm was established in 44 of 54 patients, and nonneoplastic abnormalities were discovered in an additional six cases. Permanent neurologic worsening was noted in two instances following biopsy, and a single patient died as a result of the procedure. Closed needle biopsy, particulary when done stereotactically, appears to be a resonably safe and efficacious means of establishing a tissue diagnosis in carefully selected patients suspected of harboring a deep-seated supratentorial cerebral neoplasm.