Utility of vertebral biopsy before vertebroplasty in patients with diagnosis of vertebral compression fracture.

Abstract

To demonstrate the utility of a biopsy performed just beforevertebroplastyin patients with diagnosis of vertebral compression fracture (VCF) and no history of neoplastic or hematologic diseases. Osteoporosis is the most frequent cause of vertebral compression fracture, with trauma and pathologic vertebral weakening being other common causes. Since secondary fractures at imaging investigation can present as simple compression fractures, it is important to identify an underlying pathology. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the frequency of unexpected positive histology in vertebral samples withdrawn from patients undergoing avertebroplasty to evaluate if a vertebral biopsy canroutinelybe used in case of VCF and when a secondary cause is not suspected. We retrospectively evaluated the results of324 biopsies performed from February 2003 to March 2019 just beforevertebroplastyin 1183 patients diagnosed with one or more vertebral compression fractures and with no history of neoplastic or hematological diseases and with no suspicious findings for secondary fractures at imaging. Biopsy was not diagnostic in 9/324 cases (2.8%); osteoporosis was the diagnosis in 295 cases (91%); in the remaining 20 cases (6.2%), histology was positive for an underlying pathology: 12/20 (60% of positive cases) multiple myeloma; 5/20 (25%) lymphoma/leukemia; 1/20 (5%) spondylitis; 1/20 (5%) metastasis; 1/20(5%) hemangioma. A significantly higher incidence of positive biopsies was found in patients younger than 73 (p = 0.01) with17 of 20 (85%) positive biopsies. No complications related to thebiopticmaneuver were found, according toCIRSEguidelines on percutaneous needle biopsy. Vertebral biopsy is a safe procedure with no related complications. In our series, an unexpected diagnosis was found in 6% of cases with impact on patient's clinical management. Positive unexpected histology was significantly higher in younger patients. Inconclusion, webelieve that a biopsy is useful and should be performed on all patients with vertebral compression fractures before avertebroplasty.