‘Tripple test score’ – a reliable and accurate means of rapid diagnosis of breast lumps

Introduction: In Breast cancer there is paradigm shift towards its prevention and early detection. Currently a combination of three tests, i.e. physical examination(PE), sonomammography (MM) and Fine needle aspiration cytology/biopsy (FNAC) called as triple assessment test, is used as Gold standard in diagnosing all palpable breast lumps. Materials and Methods This study was conducted in the Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College, Nagpur, spanning 2 years from June 2015 to November 2017. A total of 100 patients with a palpable breast lump of age≥35years were evaluated. A detailed history, thorough PE, MM and FNAC were used as diagnostic tools to screen the patients. The aim was to evaluate accuracy of triple assessment in early diagnosis of breast lump. Outcome measures: physical examination, mammography, and FNAC were each assigned a score of 1,2, or 3 for benign, suspicious and malignant results; the triple test score (TTS) is the sum of these scores. The TTS has minimum score of 3 (concordant benign) and maximum score of 9 (concordant malignant). Results: the TTS less ≤ 4 were benign on final biopsy (100% specificity) and a TTS ≥ 6 turned out to be malignant on final biopsy (100% sensitivity).