Value of fine needle aspiration biopsy in preoperative diagnosis of palpable breast lumps in resource-poor countries: a Nigerian experience.

Abstract

Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) has been established as a quick simple and accurate means of diagnosing breast lesions and offers a financially attractive alternative to open surgical biopsy. This study was undertaken to assess the value of FNAB in the evaluation of breast lumps at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital a major referral center in Kano Northern Nigeria over a 2-year period (2001-2002). A retrospective evaluation of 157 patients who had FNAB of which 93 had histological confirmation. Of the 61 histologically confirmed benign lesions 57 had been interpreted as benign cytologically while 1 and 3 cases respectively were reported as atypical and unsatisfactory. There were 32 histologically confirmed malignant cases 27 of which had been reported as malignant on FNAB 2 as suspicious and 3 as benign. The positive predictive value was 100% with a sensitivity of 90.6% and specificity of 100%. The high diagnostic accuracy obtained in this study warrants FNAB to be utilized as a first line diagnostic procedure in the evaluation of patients with palpable breast lesions in developing countries. (authors)