Diagnostic pitfalls in fine needle aspiration of breast lumps- a HIMS experience

Abstract

Introduction: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women. Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) is a crucial part of the ‘triple approach,' which is extensively used to diagnose breast abnormalities prior to surgery. The FNAC technique has a number of advantages, including rapid diagnosis, high acceptance, cost effectiveness, high sensitivity and specificity, the ability to sample multiple areas at once, preoperative planning, sampling of metastatic as well as primary sites, performance of ancillary techniques, and quick psychological relief for the patient after a negative diagnosisObjectives : :To examine the sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of FNAC of breast lumps by cytohistopathological correlation. To identify discrepancies in FNAC that lead to false diagnosisMaterials and methods: The present study will be conducted in Central Laboratory, Dept Of Pathology, HIMS Hasan. A total of 100 samples will be used for the present study from July 2020 to May 2021. Inclusion criteria: All females with clinically palpable breast lumps were included in the study.Exclusion criteria: Autolysed/necrosed tissue specimen, Inadequate cellularity of cytology andinadequate biopsy were excluded from the study.Conclusions: Fine needle aspiration cytology can be used to diagnose breast masses since it is a simple, cost-effective, highly accurate, rapid, and somewhat painless treatment. It's unavoidable to get some erroneous negative outcomes. However, there are a few diagnostic pitfalls to be aware of, and cytology diagnosis should be approached with carefully. The gold standard for evaluating breast lesions is histopathological investigation