Breast Needle Core Biopsy: Surgical Pathology Dissection

Needle Core Biopsy

Record the number, size, and color of the tissue cores. All of the cores should be entirely submitted to the histopathology laboratory for further processing. Each tissue block should be sectioned at three levels.

As part of the microscopic evaluation of these specimens, the histopathologic findings must be correlated with the clinical and mammographic findings. For example, if the biopsy specimen is from a mass lesion, your report should indicate whether the microscopic findings account for a breast mass. If, on the other hand, the biopsy was performed because of worrisome calcifications, your report should document the presence of these calcifications when they are found. Discrepancies between the microscopic findings and the clinical/mammographic findings may necessitate additional work on your part. If you cannot find calcifications when they were seen by mammography, additional levels of the tissue block should be cut. 

It may be necessary to confirm the presence of calcifications nessary to confirm the presence of calcifications by obtaining radiographs of the paraffin blocks. However, you should be aware that calcifica-tions that were present in the tissue submitted to pathology (as documented in radiology by speci-men radiographs) sometimes chip out of the block when it is sectioned by the histotechnolo-gist. The presence of tissue tears in the hematoxy-lin and eosin (H&E) section is a good clue that this has occurred.