Contribution of ultrasonography and fine-needle aspiration cytology to thedifferential diagnosis of palpable solid breast lesions

Purpose: To define the role of ultrasonography (US) and fine-needle aspirat ion biopsy (FNAB) relative to mammography in differentiating between benign and malignant palpable solid breast lesions, and to assess the contributio n of FNAB cytology to the delay between referral and the definitive diagnos is of breast cancer. Material and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the mammograms and US ima ges of 84 palpable breast lesions, 63 of them also blindly. The lesions wer e classified as benign, indeterminate or malignant by both modalities. The results were compared with histologic diagnoses. The cytologic reports of 5 7 lesions were reviewed and compared to the final diagnoses. The delay from referral until diagnosis was calculated for each case. Results. Eighty-one of the 84 lesions (96%) were visible as a local abnorma lity at US. Fifty-two of the 53 cancers were seen as a tumor (n=51) or an a rchitectural distortion (n=1). In the blinded analysis, the sensitivity of FNAB cytology was 92%, specificity 83%, and overall accuracy 88%. There wer e no false-negative malignancies in the three modalities combined. The dela y until the date of the final diagnosis was shorter in the group with a cyt ologic diagnosis positive for malignancy. Conclusion: Malignancy is unlikely if the US, mammographic and cytologic fi ndings of a palpable breast lesion are all benign. Active and critical use of these three modalities could cut down the number of surgical biopsies of benign breast lesions and provide prompt surgical treatment for malignant lesions.