Possible Complications and Risks
- Wound healing impairment (risk <0.5 %): surface inflammation of the skin. In theory this inflammation can also attack the cerebral membranes or the brain itself.
- Hemorrhage (risk <1 %): when introducing the biopsy needle and when removing the tissue samples it is possible that minuscule cerebral vessels that did not appear in the MRI planning images may be damaged. If this should result in a large bleed causing paralysis or speech disturbance (risk <0.5 %) or a life-threatening condition, a further operation will be required to remove the bleed, the consequences of which may, in individual cases, not be foreseeable. The risk of fatal complications from bleeding after a biopsy is, in our own experience, less than 0.2 %.
- Liquor leak (risk <0.2 %): Leakage of cerebrospinal fluid (= liquor) from the skin incision
- Edema (risk <0.5 %) swelling reaction of the brain tissue in the area of the tissue biopsy
- No diagnosis: Even with tissue sampling of pinpoint accuracy, it is possible that the neuropathologist may not be able to come to a definitive diagnosis. However, in our experience a diagnosis is made in 98 % of cases, thus enabling effective treatment for the patient.