Significance of operator experience in diagnostic accuracy of biopsy gun biopsies

A total of 175 consecutive patients who had undergone a renal biopsy with a biopsy gun were evaluated retrospectively to assess the diagnostic accuracy rate of radiologists with varying experience in biopsy procedures. No statistically significant difference was found between the different operators. If provided with detailed instruction even operators with a limited amount of experience produced biopsy results equal to those of experienced operators. The automated sampling character of the biopsy gun, with a consistently high diagnostic sampling rate (96%), is believed to be responsible for these results. In a subgroup of 27 patients diagnostic accuracy was not found to be reduced in overweight patients.