Benign Breast Lesions: Diagnostic Utility and Drawbacks of Fine-needle Aspiration Cytology

Introduction: Breast lump is one of the most common clinical presentation in surgical outpatient department, especially in females. Inflammatory and reactive conditions of the breast are relatively uncommon as compared to proliferative. Several diagnostic modalities such as mammography, ultrasonography (USG), and magnetic imaging resonance help to distinguish benign from malignant lesions to some extent. Microscopic examination of the lesion is necessary for definitive diagnosis. Several competing modalities for microscopic examination of breast lesions such as true cut biopsy, core needle biopsy performed under ultrasound guidance and fine-needle aspiration (FNA) are used. Materials and Methods: FNA smears of 310 patients with clinically suspected benign breast lumps were studied. Final FNA diagnosis of each breast lesion was based on correlating cytomorphological features with clinical examination and mammography/USG features. Tissues from 110 breast lumps were received for histopathology examination. Results: The majority of breast lumps were in females. Breast lumps were seen commonly in 21–30 years’ age group ( n = 114) followed by 31–40 years ( n = 76). Fibroadenoma ( n = 211) was the most common lesion followed by fibrocystic change ( n = 36). Out of 82 lumps diagnosed as fibroadenoma on cytology, 80 lumps were confirmed on histopathology, whereas two cases turned out fibrocystic change. Conclusion: FNA is an important diagnostic option to evaluate benign breast lesions when used with mammography and USG. Expertise in the procurement of FNA sample is as important as sample interpretation in achieving a correct diagnosis.