An Audit of Diagnostic Mammography Examination among Women Presenting with Breast Symptoms

Background: Mammography is one of the imaging modalities that has been in existence for a long period of time in investigating the breast for pathologies. Its use in imaging the breast can be for the purpose of screening and diagnosis. Breast screening allows for early detection of breast cancer. Early detection of breast can save lives. Despite its important imaging modality for breast, mammography is not readily available in this part of the world. Our institution just acquired one recently. Objectives: Therefore, the aim of our study is to document the pattern of mammographic findings and to determine the prevalence of breast pathologies (benign and malignant) among symptomatic patients referred for mammography. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study comprises 121 symptomatic women who presented for mammographic examination at the Radiology Department of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada from January 2016 to December 2018. Two basic views (craniocaudal and mediolateral views) of the breast were obtained using an EXR-650 mammographic machine. Some of the patients had complimentary ultrasound scans. Results: The mean age of the study population was 47.23± 8.25 with an age range of 32–77 years. The majority of the patients were in the age group 40–49 years. Most women in the study were premenopausal and the majority had no family history of breast cancer. Breast pain was the most common symptom patients presented with. Heterogenous fibro glandular tissue accounted for the majority of mammographic breast density. Age correlated positively with a pattern of breast density among the study population. Abnormal mammographic findings were seen in 67 (55.4%) patients among which benign mass was the most prevalent. Among patients who presented with breast pain majority had normal mammographic findings while for those with breast lump, benign breast mass accounted for 35.7% representing the majority and malignant mass accounted for 19.1%. The relationship between mammographic outcome and indication was statistically significant P = 0.0001. Conclusion: Mammography plays a pivotal role in the evaluation of the breast in patients who presented with symptoms as it can differentiate benign and malignant lesions of the breast. In this study, the use of mammography reveals various pathologies in which benign breast mass accounted for the majority of breast pathologies detected.