MRI AND ULTRASONOGRAPHY IN THE EVALUATION OF BREAST LESIONS: A DIAGNOSTIC CORRELATION STUDY

Background: Breast cancer remains the most prevalent malignancy among women globally,with its incidence steadily increasing in developing nations such as India.Early and precise diagnosis is critical to improving treatment outcomes; however, the availability of advanced imaging modalities is often limited in low-resource settings. This study was designed to assess and compare the diagnostic performance of ultrasonography (USG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in differentiating benign from malignant breast lesions, and to explore the potential diagnostic enhancement achieved by combining both imaging techniques.Material & Methods:A prospective study was carried out involving 100 female participants aged 35 years and above who presented with palpable breast lumps or suspicious imaging findings.All subjects underwent both USG and MRI evaluations.Imaging results were subsequently correlated with histopathological findings to calculate the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and overall diagnostic accuracy of each imaging modality. Results: Among the 100 patients studied,the highest incidence of breast cancer was observed in the 56–65-year age group.Malignant lesions were more frequently located in the left breast,particularly in the upper outer quadrant.MRI outperformed USG in sensitivity (100% vs. 78.05%) and NPV (100% vs. 47.06%),while both modalities demonstrated similar specificity (88.89%).MRI reliably detected aggressive tumor characteristics such as spiculated margins, skin infiltration, and Type III kinetic enhancement curves.Notably,combining MRI and USG increased the overall diagnostic accuracy to 89%,underscoring the complementary role of both techniques. Conclusion:MRI demonstrated superior capability in detecting malignant breast lesions, whereas USG remained valuable due to its affordability and widespread availability. The findings emphasize the clinical benefit of integrating MRI with USG to enhance diagnostic precision in breast cancer evaluation, particularly in settings with limited access to advanced imaging