Gabriel MA Author

Research Article Open Access

Brain Lesions: To Biopsy or Not To Biopsy. A Single Institution Experience

Author(s):

Gabriel MA, John LA, Christie LM, Albert FJ, Ruby ABG

Objectives: Patients presenting with intracranial lesions represent a diagnostic dilemma. Imaging and laboratory tests lack the specificity needed for decision-making. We aimed to detect what intervention and findings made the study patients eligible for brain biopsy, for observation or for treatment. Methods: From January 2010 to December 2012, electronic medical records of 312 adult patients were selected from the hospital database using key words aimed to identify brain lesions, in two-affiliated tertiary-care, county-based hospitals in Houston, Texas.Decision to biopsy, to observe or to treat brain lesions was the main outcome variable. Clinical, laboratory and imaging information were correlated with the main variable to determine which factors made the need for biopsy more likely.... view more»

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