RESUMO
Breast lump is one of the most common surgical problems in females. Surgical biopsy of palpable breast lump was considered the gold standard for the diagnosis of breast lump[s]. Emphasis has been placed on improving method for establishing a definitive diagnosis of breast mass prior to surgery. Our aim was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology [FNAC] and core needle biopsy [CNB] in patients with palpable breast masses. Prospective randomized controlled clinical trial included 296 Female patients with breast lumps, presented to Al-Thawra Teaching Hospital, Sanaa, Yemen between May 1998 - May 2002. All the patients submitted either to FNAC or CNB equally. The results were then compared with the final diagnosis by histopathology. The patient age ranged from 15-74 years with a mean of 33.77 +/- 11.91 years. Married patients were 69.3% and the most common presentation was breast lump[s] [88.5%]. The mean size of the tumor was 3.47 +/- 1.43 cm in diameter. The FNAC sensitivity was 66.66%, 81.8% specificity, 75.7% accuracy, positive predictive value [PPV] 100% and negative predictive value [NPV] 90%, while in core needle breast biopsy sensitivity was 92.3%, 94.8% specificity, 93.4% accuracy, PPV 100% and NPV 100%. The diagnostic accuracy of CNB was higher than the FNAC, which was statistically significant [p<0.05]. Both procedures are simple, easy, safe, cheap and reliable, but CNB is more accurate than the FNAC