In the past few years, minimally invasive breast biopsies have become one of the main tools in diagnostic workups. It is important to have a straightforward approach to reduce biopsy time, discomfort, and complications for the patient, especially for stereotactic-guided biopsies, as Karsten Ridder, MD, from the Radiological Group Practice at St. Josefs-Hospital in Dortmund-Hörde, Germany, demonstrates. From a technical standpoint, automated tube movement and superior image quality in combination with a larger detector size are the major achievements in this area. According to Ridder, preselecting the patients and reducing false-positive results using modern imaging techniques are vital in order to minimize the number of unnecessary biopsies.

Breast imaging and reliable interventional tissue sampling are paramount for the early diagnosis of breast cancer and thus facilitate treatment of the disease in its curable stages. In screening settings, mammographically suspicious lesions are usually examined by sonographic imaging and ultrasound-guided biopsy. Frank Stöblen, MD, from diavero breast imaging center in Essen, Germany, presents emerging technologies that are currently under experimental and clinical evaluation, such as automated breast volume scanning (ABVS) and elasticity imaging, available on the ACUSON S2000™ ultrasound system. Potential benefits and pitfalls of those methods are presented, and future perspectives in ultrasound breast imaging are discussed in the presentation.

Evelyn Wenkel, MD, from the Department of Radiology at the University of Erlangen, Germany, discusses basic principles and challenges of breast magnetic resonance imaging-(MRI-)guided interventions. The role of breast MRI for diagnosis, screening, staging, and management of breast cancer is growing each year. MRI has proven to constitute a valuable complementary tool to conventional techniques like physical examination, mammography, and ultrasound. Breast MRI is a more sensitive method for the detection of malignant breast lesions than conventional mammography and ultrasound. When suspicious breast findings can only be identified with MRI, MRI-guided techniques are used for adequate tissue sampling to exclude breast cancer. In her talk, Wenkel establishes criteria for appropriate patient selection and management for MRI-guided interventions and discusses the implication of pathology and follow-up for these patients. Furthermore, she summarizes the technical requirements for coil, needle, and approach selection.