Utility of ultrasound guided versus conventional fine needle aspiration cytology in diagnosing breast malignancies among patients with palpable breast lumps at Bugando Medical Centre, Mwanza Tanzania

INTRODUCTION: breast lump is the commonest presentation for both benign and maligant breast conditions. Both ultrasound guided and conventional fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) have been used for diagnosing of breast malignancy among patients with palpable breast lumps. This study compared diagnostic utility of ultrasound guided versus conventional FNAC in diagnosing breast malignancies among patients with palpable breast lumps at Bugando Medical Centre. METHODS: this was a hospital based cross sectional study with a follow up component that combined both retrospective data (from January 2017 to June 2018) and prospective data (from July 2018 to June 2019). RESULTS: during the study, total of 354 patients (male; female = 1: 32) were enrolled in the study. A total of 134 (37.9%) patients had malignant lesions while 220 (62.1%) of patients had benign lesions confirmed on histology. The diagnostic utility (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy) for conventional FNAC was 86.7%, 95.7%, 93.5%, 91.1% and 92.0% with an 8% error margin versus ultrasound guided FNAC all were 100% with a 0% error margin respectively. CONCLUSION: both ultrasound guided and conventional FNAC show almost perfect agreement with histology. However, ultrasound guided FNAC has a higher diagnostic utility relative to conventional FNAC in diagnosing breast malignancies.