Objectives: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of fine-needle aspiration cytology as compared to excisional biopsy of breast lesions of the same subjects and ascertain the usefulness of the method as diagnostic procedure.
Design: A prospective comparative study of fine-needle, aspiration, cytology and excisional biopsy of breast lesions.
Subjects: One hundred and two patients with palpable breast lesion.
Results: Fine-needle aspiration cytology as a routine method in the management of breast diseases was compared to excisional biopsy of the same patients. Sixteen patients (15.7%) had carcinoma of the breast and 86 (84.3%) cases were found to have fibroadenomas of the breast. The sensitivity was 94.3% and the specificity was 78.6%. The positive and negative predictive values were 68.8% and 96.5% respectively. There were three false positive and false negative cases.
Conclusion: The high sensitivity and specificity results, obtained ascertains that fine needle aspiration cytology is the most reliable diagnostic method. Its cheapness and respectable diagnostic value makes it indispensable for preoperative breast lesion diagnosis.