Dharmakanta Kumbhakar1, Partha Pratim Talukdar2
BACKGROUND
The breast is composed of both specialised epithelial cells and stroma. Both benign
and malignant lesions can occur in the breast as a palpable lump. Fine needle
aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a rapid, easy to perform, minimally invasive and low
cost first line high-diagnostic accuracy test for cytopathological evaluation of
palpable breast lump with minimum complications.
METHODS
The study was carried out to evaluate the cytopathological patterns of 2706
palpable breast lumps by fine needle aspiration (FNA) procedure and
cytohistopathological correlation of the available biopsied palpable breast lumps
of the study in the Pathology department of Tezpur Medical College and Hospital,
Assam, for a period of three years from July 01, 2016 to June 30, 2019.
RESULTS
Out of 2706 palpable breast lumps in the study, FNA smears of 19 (0.70 %) were
inadequate for cytopathological reporting. Out of the remaining 2687 palpable
breast lumps where FNA was adequate for cytopathological reporting, female
patients (n = 2594) comprised 96.54 % and male patients (n = 93) comprised
3.46 % with a male and female ratio of 1:27.9. Out of the 2687 palpable breast
lumps, 2318 were benign breast diseases (86.27 %) and 369 were malignant
neoplasms (13.73 %), with a benign and malignant ratio of 6.28:1. Out of the
benign breast lumps, fibroadenoma breast was seen in 1228 (52.98 %) and of the
malignant neoplasms, infiltrating duct carcinoma was seen in 341 (92.41 %).
Cytohistopathological correlation showed 98.70 % sensitivity, 99.38 % specificity,
99.35 % positive predictive value, 98.76 % negative predictive value, and 99.04
% diagnostic accuracy.
CONCLUSIONS
FNAC has high sensitivity and specificity in cytopathological diagnosis of palpable
breast lumps. Based on the accurate cytopathological diagnosis of the palpable
breast lumps, patients with palpable breast lumps can be given adequate
treatment.
