Introduction: Presently, histology is the gold standard in definite diagnosis of breast masses. Ultrasound is a relatively cheap, non-invasive, and non-ionizing imaging modality which is widely available in most hospitals. An assessment of its accuracy in diagnosing breast masses is necessary to minimize unwarranted biopsies.
Aim and objectives: This study aims to correlate the ultrasonographic and histopathologic findings in the diagnosis of patients with palpable breast masses.
Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional hospital-based study, which involved 100 consecutive patients who presented with palpable breast masses in Zaria. This was carried out for a period of 7 months (November 2016-June 2017). They had a clinical breast examination to identify the mass, which was then imaged and biopsied via ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology.
Results: The generated data were analysed using SPSS version 23.0 (Chicago, IL, USA). There were more benign masses (63%) than malignant masses (29%). On correlating the final diagnosis of ultrasound to that of histology, it was found to have a sensitivity of 89%; specificity of 94%; positive predictive value of 89%; negative predictive value of 94%; and accuracy of 92%.
Conclusion: This study shows that there was a correlation between ultrasound and histology findings in differentiating between benign and malignant masses. This proves that ultrasound has a significant role to play in evaluating and diagnosing clinically palpable breast masses.
Keywords: Histopathology; palpable breast masses; ultrasonography.
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