The Frequency of Various Causes of Breast Lumps in Females Presenting to Surgical OPD in A Tertiary Care Hospital

Objective: To determine the frequency of various types of breast lumps in females presenting to a tertiary care hospital. Study design: Descriptive case series Place and Duration: Department of General Surgery, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences ( PIMS ) Islamabad during the period from April 26, 2010 to September 26, 2010. Materials and Methods: Female patients above 14yrs of age presenting for the first time with a breast lump to Surgical OPD of PIMS, Islamabad were included in the study. FNAC was carried out in all of these patients and they were called for follow up till histopathology report. The data was subjected to statistical analysis i.e., non- probability sampling was applied. Results: A total of 127 patients were included in the study according to sample size. The mean age of presentation was 33.41 ±15.86 years. The left side was involved in the majority of patients i.e. 73 patients (57.5%) and 42 patients (54.5%) had lump in the right breast. Out of 127 patients 69 patients (54.3%) were married and 58 patients (45.7%) were unmarried. In these patients breast lump was located in the upper outer quadrant in 67 patients(52.8%). 24 patients(18.9%) presented with lump in the lower outer quadrant , 17 patients(13.4%) with lump in the upper inner quadrant , 13 patients (10.2%) with lump involving the central area and 6 patients (4.7%) with lump in the inner lower quadrant. The commonest lesion on FNAC report was fibroadenoma breast which was present in 59 patients (46.5%) and 44 patients (34.6%) reported to have breast cancer. 13 patients(10.2%) had breast abscess and 7 patients (5.5%) had fibrocystic disease based on FNAC reports. Only 4 patients (3.1%) that presented to our OPD had phyllodes tumor of the breast. Conclusion: Majority of breast lumps are benign. Breast cancer is the second most common lump in our study which is more frequent as compared to studies conducted elsewhere in Pakistan and abroad.