Comparison of diagnostic accuracy of film-Screen mammography and ultrasound in breast masses

Objective: to determine diagnostic accuracy of film-screen mammography and ultrasound in differentiating benign from malignant breast masses taking histopathology as gold standard. study design: cross-sectional study study setting: department of diagnostic radiology in collaboration with department of surgery,sir ganga ram hospital,lahore duration six months (7 th may,2009 to 7 th november. 2009). subjects and methods: 210 patients were selected by non probability purposive sampling who had a palpable breast lump. mammography was performed using craniocaudal (cc) and mediolateral oblique (mlo) projections. ultrasound examination was carried out using a 7.5 mhz linear array transducer. the final diagnosis was established by comparing the results of ultrasound and mammography with that of biopsy. results: sensitivity and specificity of mammography was 77% and 94.9% respectively. positive and negative predictive value was 83.3% and 92.5% respectively. diagnostic accuracy rate was 90.5% sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound was 77% and 96.2% respectively. positive and negative predictive value was 87% and 92.7% respectively. diagnostic accuracy rate was 91.4%. conclusion: prompt diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer is essential. with early diagnosis the chance of surviving breast cancer is higher than 90%. the study suggested that in terms of sensitivity and specificity both mammography and ultrasound are comparable.