Evaluation of fine needle aspiration and imprint cytology in the early diagnosis of breast lesions with histopathological correlation.

Fifty-one breast lumps were studied by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and scrape imprint cytology. Of the 51 cases, 28 were malignant and included infiltrating duct carcinoma (22), well differentiated adenocarcinoma (2), mucinous, papillary and lobular carcinoma (one each) and malignant lymphoma (one). Benign lesions were mastitis, fibroadenoma and fibrocystic disease. The diagnostic accuracy of FNAC was 90.2% and that of imprint 94.1% with no false negatives. Two imprint smears and one aspirate designated suspicious were proved to be benign. The combination of FNAC and imprint cytodiagnosis gave a diagnostic accuracy of 96% thus proving their value in the rapid diagnosis of breast lesions.