DOI: 10.36347/sasjs.2021.v07i07.003

Pages: 361-369

Background and objectives: Various radiographic modalities are readily available to identify breast lesions that are suspicious for breast cancer. Mammography remains a useful radiological tool in breast cancer screening. This study was aimed to determine the diagnostic accuracy of mammography in evaluating palpable breast lumps. Methodology: The present two year cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2015 to October 2017 on a total of 72 eligible women presenting with palpable breast lump in the Department of General Surgery, A J Institute of Medical sciences, Mangalore. Results: In the present study commonest age group was between 46 to 60 year who constituted about 34.7% of the patients, nipple discharge was present in 52.7% of the cases. The shape of the lesion was found to be globular in 40.27% and tenderness was present in 59.7% of the patients. The nipple examination revealed retracted nipples in 29.16% of the patients. The consistency of the breast lump was firm in 63.88% of the patients. Clinically Axillary lymph nodes were palpable in 19.44% of the women. Mammography findings revealed grade 3 breast lump in 43.05% of the patients. Malignant lesions were diagnosed in 27.77% of the patients while 72.23% of the women were diagnosed as having benign lesions. Conclusion and interpretation: Of the 20 patients who had malignant lesions on histopathology/cytology, 17 had malignant lesions on mammography and 2 women had benign lesions. The sensitivity of mammography compared to histopathology/cytology in predicting malignant lesions was 85% with specificity of 96.15% and the diagnostic accuracy was 93.05%.