Clinico-pathological Correlation of Breast lumps in Mauritian women

Worldwide breast lumps are a common cause of concern for patients as well as for clinicians. Throughout the world relatively few studies are conducted on benign breast diseases as compared to reporting rates of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to characterize the breast lumps seen in Mauritian women and to establish the correlation between clinical features of breast lumps and their pathological diagnosis. This study was reported for the first time from Republic of Mauritius. Totally 95 women with breast lumps were studied at a tertiary teaching hospital in Mauritius between 2010 and 2012. 26 women were less than 30 years of age and rest were above 30. Majority discovered the lump by themselves and more than 80% presented to the care provider after 4 weeks. There were 29.5% of malignant lumps and 70.5% of benign lumps. Fibroadenoma was most common in women less than 30 years age group. Most of the cancers were in patients above 30 with one exception. The major risk factor that was significantly associated with malignancy was overweight. Clinical examination had a sensitivity of 71% and specificity of 75%. It was accurate to differentiate malignant from benign lumps. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) had a sensitivity of 80%.