An Audit Of Open Breast Biopsies In Two Hospitals In The Niger Delta

Context Biopsies provide histological diagnosis and as such may guide subsequent management of breast lumps. Regular audit of such biopsies are necessary to document epidemiological pattern of the histological diagnosis within a population. Objective To review the histological diagnoses of breast biopsies in two referral centres in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Methodology This is a descriptive analysis of retrospective data obtained from the Central Hospital Warri and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, all in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria between 2005 and 2010. Results Data on 367 biopsies were analysed. Patients with benign diagnoses aged in range between 14 and 48 years and those with malignant conditions between 20 and 85 years. Fibroadenoma was the commonest histological diagnosis (36.0%) with a mean age at diagnosis of 22.9 5.5 years. Just one case of fibroadenoma was recorded beyond 36 years. years. Malignancies were seen in 29.4% of biopsies with Invasive ductal carcinoma being the dominant histological type, 89.8%. The mean age at diagnosis of breast cancer was 46.0 12.1 years. Incidence of malignant findings ranged from less than 1 in 10 biopsies below 30 years, 1 in 2 biopsies at the 31-35 years age range to nearly unit in those 56 years and above. Conclusion Fibroadenoma is the commonest breast biopsy finding in the referral centres in the Niger Delta. Breast cancer occurs commonly among premenopausal women.Key words: Breast, Biopsy, Fibroadenoma, Invasive ductal carcinoma