Background and objectives:

Fine needle aspiration cytology is an effective modality for diagnosis of breast lesions. It has high sensitivity and specificity. The aim of the study was to categorize breast lesions, correlate the FNAC diagnosis with histopathological findings and finding the accuracy.

Methods :

2 year study was conducted in our institution and in that 130 patients underwent FNAC of the palpable breast lumps after thorough physical examination. The cytological diagnosis was classified as benign, suspicious of malignancy, malignant and others. After this reporting all the patients were subjected to excision biopsy or mastectomy and its histopathological confirmation. Later diagnostic accuracy of cytology reporting was compared with that of histopathology.

Results :

Out of 130 cases, 85 were benign, 32 were malignant, 5 suspicious and 8 were other non neoplastic smears. Cytological and histological correlation was found in 127 cases (97.69%) out of 130 cases. Fibroadenoma was the commonest benign lesion noted in age group of 21–30 years and infiltrating duct carcinoma was the most common malignant lesion. Accuracy of the present study was sensitivity 100%, specificity 97.89%, positive predictive value 94.59%, negative predictive value 100% and efficiency of 98.46%.

Conclusion :

FNAC of breast lesions serves rapid, economical and reliable tool for diagnosis of palpable breast lesions and the cytopathological examination of these lesions before operation or treatment serves as an important modality.