A five year audit of mammography in a tertiary hospital, North Central Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Breast imaging plays a vital role in the multidisciplinary approach to management of breast disease. A baseline data is apt and necessary for collaborative studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a prospective descriptive study carried out between January 2009 and December 2013 at our institution. Patients who had breast imaging were recruited into the study. Film-screen mammograms were acquired with a General Electric (GE) Senographe DMR machine. Breast ultrasound done using an Aloka Prosound SSD-350+ ultrasound machine equipped with linear and curvilinear 7.5–10 MHz transducer. Findings were categorized using the ACR-BIRADS (American college of Radiologists-Breast imaging reporting and data system). Data was collated and analysed using social statistical package (SPSS) version 17. RESULT: The mammograms of 824 patients were evaluated during this study period. Their age ranged from 40–85 years with a mean age of 50.9 ± 8.1 years. Eight hundred and sixteen (99%) were females and eight (1%) were males. The commonest clinical indication was breast lump (23.9%). The commonest density pattern was BIRADS 2-scattered fibroglandular pattern (43.9%). Mammograms were normal in 266 (32.3%) and positive in 558 (67.7%). The final BIRADS assessment showed BIRADS 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 constituted 6.6%, 30.1%, 29.7%, 22.2%, 5.9%, 5.0% and 0.5% respectively. CONCLUSION: The level of awareness of breast cancer is quite high with the positive mammographic yield emphasizing the value of a multidisciplinary approach in the management of breast diseases.