Zahir Shah Mahsud, Seema Gul, Inayat Shah Roghani.
Diagnostic accuracy of Mammography in clinically palpable Breast Lumps.
Pak J Radiol Jan ;14(2):5-8.

Objective: To find out role of mammography in clinically palpable breast lumps in correlation with pathological findings in our setting and in this way, we can reduce the biopsy rate in patients presenting with clinically discrete lumps. Study Design: An observational study. Place and duration: The study was conducted at the Radiology Department of Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar over a period of one year i.e. from November 2001 to November 2002. Subjects and Methods: An initial detailed clinical history and detailed physical examination was carried out. All the findings were entered in proforma. A complimentary ultrasound examination was also done where necessary The final diagnosis regarding the lump as shown in mammography was made and patient was sent for core biopsy. Then the mammographic diagnosis was compared with the histological report. Results: A total of 200 patients were examined Maximum numbers of patients received were in the age group of 31-40 years. The commonest conditions that presented, as breast lumps were fibroadenoma (22.5%), Cysts (17.5%) and Cancer (17.5%). Other lesions were cyclical nodularity (8.5%), increased density of breast tissue (7.5%), inflammatory lesions (5%), duct ectasia (5%), enlarged lymph nodes (2.5%), Lipoma (2.5%), Phyllodes tumor (1.5%) and normal breast tissues (0.9%) also presented as lumps. The diagnostic accuracy of mammography in palpable breast lumps is 98.5% when compared with histopathological diagnosis. Conclusion: It was concluded from this study, that the diagnostic accuracy of mammography in clinically palpable breast lumps is 98.5 % when compared with histopathological results. Hence mammography can be used as an important diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of breast diseases specially in older age group due to less glandular tissue and high risk of Carcinomas, as dense breast tissue sometimes obscure the lesion and give false negative results on mammography and in such cases the patient should be assessed by means of triple assessment i.e. clinical examination, mammography and histopathological results.

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