A cytomorphological study of non-malignant breast lumps in a hospital set up
European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine,
2023, Volume 10, Issue 1, Pages 460-467
Abstract
Background- Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is one the most convenient and inexpensive tool for preoperative assessment of breast lumps. It has gained popularity due to its fast and easy approach and can be performed with very little complications. In other words, FNAC may save anxiety, trauma, time and money. Nevertheless, in FNAC of breast lumps paucity of aspirate material or morphological overlapping features make it challenging for cytopathologists in reporting.Materials and methods- It is a prospective study done from September 2021 to September 2022. A total of 98 FNAC cases, diagnosed as non malignant breast lesions were included in this study. The study was done at department of pathology, Tripura Medical College and Dr. B R Ambedkar Teaching Hospital, Hapania, Tripura. Some suspected infective cases with purulent material were sent to microbiology department for culture sensitivity testing and Zeihl-Neelson testing to rule out Acid Fast Bacilli. Reporting was done using IAC standardized reporting system for breast lesions. They have categorized the breast lesions into C1 to C5 (C stands for Code).The collected data were entered in SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences Inc, Chicago, IL, USA) version 16.0.
Results- A total of 98 non malignant breast lesions from all the female patients were included. Most of the cases (61.2%) presented in 2nd and 3rd decade and maximum cases i.e. (35.7%) were seen between 20-30 years of age. The mean age of patient was 31.99±11.7. Majority the palpable breast lumps in this study were ≤5 cm (80.6%). Right sided breast lumps were seen in 50.0% cases. Among all the quadrants, upper-outer quadrant presented with most common site for breast lesions (48%). Among the non-malignant breast lesions under category C2 and C3, fibroadenoma presented with highest number of recorded cases (39.8%) and followed by fibrocystic change (32.7%). Females presented with benign breast disease residing in urban areas were (56.1%).
Conclusion- Fine needle aspiration cytology is one of the best technique to evaluate breast lumps used in a country like India with limited resources. It is minimally invasive, rapid and effective method for preoperative diagnosis to relieve the anxiety of patient and also for post-operative follow up of breast lumps to ensure the recurrences. FNAC has some pitfalls, both false-positive and false-negative results can occur, which can be reduced by experience and expertise of cytopathologist. The triple assessment method by clinical, radiological and pathological examination is a standard approach in the evaluation of breast lumps.
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