Diagnostic Accuracy of MR Mammography in Diagnosing Malignant Breast Lesions Taking Histopathology as Gold Standard

Objective: To find out the diagnostic accuracy of MR Mammography in diagnosing malignant breast lesions taking histopathology as gold standard. Study Design: Cross-sectional survey. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Radiology in collaboration with Department of Pathology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore, from April 2015 to April 2016. Methodology: 150 female patients with either suspicious mammographic findings or palpable lesions suspicious for malignancy referred from surgical OPD of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital were assessed. Dynamic contrast enhanced MRI was done on 1.5 Tesla MRI machine and the images were evaluated on morphological and kinetic basis. MR findings were then compared with preoperative FNAC and biopsy findings. Results: The mean age of the patients was 52.5 +/- 13.4 years with maximum patients of age group 46-55 years. Out of 150, 118 (78.6%) patients were found to have malignant lesions on MRM while 116 (77%) patients were proved to have malignant lesions on histopathology. There was 93.9% sensitivity, 73.5% specificity, 89.3% diagnostic accuracy, 92.3% PPV, and 78.1% NPV of MR mammography in diagnosing malignant breast lesions taking histopathology as gold standard. Conclusion: Breast MRI has high sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy in diagnosis of malignant breast lesions and must be used as primary imaging tool for proper characterisation of the breast lumps.