Diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology in breast lump

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in a breast lump using histopathology as gold standard. Material and Methods This cross sectional study was carried out at the Department of General Surgery, Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur from July 2009 to June 2011. Two hundred and fifty six patients with breast lump were included in the study and underwent FNAC using histopathology as gold standard. Results Majority of the patients (n= 112) were between 20-30 years of age with mean age being 34.23 +/- 9.78years. 4.30% (n= 11) were male and 95.79% (n= 245) were females. FNAC proved 32.81% (n= 84) malignant (True positive 63 and False positive 21), with sensitivity as 85.13%, specificity 88.46%, positive predictive value 75% and negative predictive value as 93.60%. Conclusion The FNAC in a breast lump showed a sensitivity 85.13% and specificity 88.46% suggesting that it was least invasive and highly accurate diagnostic procedure in diagnosis of breast lumps.