Evaluation of diagnostic accuracy of punch biopsies

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Evaluation of diagnostic accuracy of punch biopsies

  • IRAS ID

    236253

  • Contact name

    Daniel Morritt

  • Contact email

    daniel.morritt@nnuh.nhs.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    James Paaget Un9iversity Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 0 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    During our clinical practice there have been occasional instances when a punch biopsy is taken of a lesion to confirm the histological diagnosis. A decision is then made to remove the entire lesion. However, once the lesion is excised and examined histologically it may actually be given a different diagnosis. We would anticipate a larger punch biopsy to be more accurate than a smaller punch biopsy because there is more tissue for the pathologist to examine. We are also interested to see if the location of the biopsy within the lesion makes a difference to the accuracy of the result i.e. does the original punch biopsy agree with the final histological diagnosis.

    We plan on identifying patients who have had a punch biopsy at the James Paget University Hospital from the histopathology lab results or looking in the theatre registers. We will then review the patient notes and results to look at the original histological diagnosis from the punch biopsy to see if it correlates with the final histological diagnosis once the definitive surgery had been completed.
    We plan on using an independent statistician to look at our results to see if there any statistically significant differences.
    Our literature review has failed to identify any published evidence in this area. We think our study may provide useful information to help clinicians decide on the best size and location of the punch biopsy within the original lesion. This may be of benefit to future patients to help with accurate diagnosis.

  • REC name

    Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    19/YH/0044

  • Date of REC Opinion

    5 Mar 2019

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion