The Correlation of Sonographic and Histopathologic Findings in the Diagnosis of Palpable Breast Masses in Zaria

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.