title: Tru-cut biopsy of palpable breast lesions: a practical option for pre-operative diagnosis in developing countries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To establish the role of Tru-cut needle biopsy in the pre-operative diagnosis of breast lesions in a developing country.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cross sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  112 consecutive patients with palpable breast lesions who had both Tru-cut and excision biopsy as a pre-operative diagnostic procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four (3.6%) patients had specimens that were inadequate for histological diagnosis. Tru-cut biopsy diagnosed 42 of the remaining 108 as malignant and 66 as benign, but only 40 and 61 respectively were confirmed to be correctly so by excision biopsy. Tru-cut biopsy, therefore, achieved a sensitivity of 88.9% (95% CI 79.7 to 98.1) specificity of 96.8% (95% CI 92.5 to 100) and an over all diagnostic accuracy of 93.5% (95% CI 88.9 to 98.2). There was a false positive rate of 4.8%, a false negative rate of 7.6% and a positive predictive value of 95.2%. The pathologist was able to make a correct specific histological diagnosis in 76.2% of all the adequate Tru-cut samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  If Tru-cut biopsy is done instead of excision biopsy, it will sufficiently reduce waiting time and reduce cost (four fold). It is well tolerated by patients. We regard the procedure as a useful adjunct and indeed a practical option for accurate pre-operative diagnosis of palpable breast lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.
authors.forename: I D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Gukas
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Nwana
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Ihezue
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Momoh
authors.forename: P O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Obekpa
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy / Q000379:methods*; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D009549:Nigeria; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity