Needle localization of occult breast lesions with a curved-end retractable wire: technique and pitfalls.

Abstract

A series of 100 consecutive occult mammographic abnormalities were localized with a curved-end retractable wire system. A true-positive rate of 24% and a failure rate of 4% for initial excision were found. The pitfalls and advantages of this new needle-wire breast localizer are presented.