Closed flexible intramedullary biopsy of metastatic carcinoma.

Closed flexible intramedullary biopsy was performed in 24 patients requiring surgical stabilization of 17 pathologic and ten impending pathologic fractures from metastatic carcinoma. The biopsy was positive for carcinoma in 25 of 27 cases and either confirmed the diagnosis of metastatic disease or revealed a carcinoma cell type of unknown origin. The technique of closed biopsy using an intramedullary flexible, large bore, plastic catheter in patients with metastatic carcinoma produced information comparable to other biopsy techniques.