Predictive value of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of palpable breast lump.

A lump is the first symptom in over 80 percent of all patients with cancer of the breast. Consequently, the finding of any lump in the breast is a highly significant sign and warrants a thorough investigation. The present study was undertaken to study the predictive value of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of palpable breast lumps. Fifty-two female patients with palpable breast lumps that were unilateral underwent ultrasonography of the breast. Thirty-six of these patients who had solitary, unilateral, solid lumps were followed up with FNAC/biopsy/mammography and the findings were compared. The mean age group was seen to be 41 years. The youngest patient was 17 years old and the oldest was 80 years. The validity of USG in the diagnosis of palpable breast lumps was calculated. A sensitivity value of 95%, specificity of 94.10%, positive and negative predictive values of 95.50% and 93.75% were noted and were comparable to other similar studies. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were statistically significant (p=0.0000006) and were comparable to the values obtained by different studies conducted elsewhere. Among the multiple USG parameters, shape, margins, vascularity, surrounding tissue character, sound transmission through the lump were more significant in the diagnosis of benign vs. malignant lumps. Echogenicity and echotexture were of less significance.