A study to determine diagnostic accuracy of mammography in patients with palpable breast lumps at kles dr. Prabhakar kore hospital and medical research centre, belgaum

Abstract

Background and objectives Various radiographic modalities are readily available to identify lesions that are suspicious for breast cancer. Mammography remains the mainstay of breast cancer screening. This study was aimed to determine the diagnostic accuracy of mammography in evaluating breast lumps. Methodology The present one year cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2012 to December 2012 on a total of 65 eligible women presenting with palpable breast lump in the Department of General Surgery, KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospitals and Medical Research Centre, and Charitable Hospital, Belgaum. Results In the present study commonest age group was between 31 to 45 years with 43.08% of the patients and the mean age of the study population was 41.71 ± 13.76 years. The nipple discharge was present in 15.38% of the cases. The shape of the lesion was found to be globular in 44.62% and tenderness was present in 44.62% of the patients. The nipple examination revealed retracted nipples in 23.08% of the patients. The consistency of the breast lump was firm in 75.38% of the patients. Axillary lymph node was present in 13.85% of the women. Mammography findings revealed grade 3 breast lump in 46.15% of the patients. Malignant lesions were diagnosed in 46.15% of the patients while 53.85% of the women were diagnosed as having benign lesions. Conclusion and interpretation Of the 30 patients who had malignant lesions on histopathology/cytology, 26 had malignant lesions on mammography and 4 women had benign lesions. The sensitivity of mammography compared to histopathology/cytology in predicting malignant lesions was 86.67% with specificity of 97.14% and the diagnostic accuracy was 92.3%