[Is the Tru-Cut needle more efficient than the fine needle in the diagnosis of hepatic lesions? Comparative study of 45 echography-guided punctures].

A comparison of diagnostic efficiency of fine needle biopsy (22 G) versus coarse needle biopsy (Tru-Cut 14 G) was performed on ultrasound-guided liver biopsies in 45 patients. Diagnosis was established through clinical, paraclinical and pathologic features. For each patient pathologic examination of both fine needle biopsy (cytology and histology) and coarse needle biopsy (histology) were performed by a pathologist unaware of any clinical data. Of 36 malignant tumors, diagnosis of malignancy was made in 83 percent of the cases by fine needle biopsy and in 81 percent of the cases by Tru-Cut biopsy, and distinction between primary and secondary cancer, in 83 and 86 percent of cases respectively. Specificity was 100 percent with both techniques. Of 9 benign lesions, the 6 focalized fatty infiltrations were diagnosed by both fine and coarse needle biopsies. As fine needle biopsy is less invasive than coarse needle biopsy and gave equally satisfying results, we suggest that it should be used preferentially in the diagnosis of focalized liver lesions.