Diagnostic accuracy of core-needle and open surgical biopsies for palpable breast lesions in a Southern Nigerian teaching hospital: a retrospective study.

Background: Biopsy methods, including core needle and open surgical biopsy are commonly used for diagnosing
suspicious breast lesions. This study aimed to analyse the biopsies performed for suspected breast cancers at our
centre and assess their diagnostic accuracy. Methods: A retrospective review of all biopsies for suspected breast
cancer conducted between January 2018 and December 2022 at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital was carried
out. Results: Among 117 patients, 43.6% underwent core needle biopsy, and 56.4% underwent open surgical biopsy,
with mean ages of 47.8±13.5 and 47.0±11.6 years, respectively. In the core needle biopsy group, 13.7% of lesions
were benign, 82.4% were malignant, one case was misdiagnosed as benign, and one was inconclusive. In the open
surgical biopsy group, 7.6% of lesions were benign, and 92.4% were malignant. The diagnostic accuracies for core
needle and open surgical biopsies were 96.1% and 100%, respectively, correlating well with postsurgical
histological findings. Complications such as bleeding, hematoma formation, ulceration, and wound infection were
observed with open surgical biopsy. Conclusion: Core needle and open surgical biopsies were effective in
diagnosing suspicious breast lesions at our centre, with similar findings. Core needle biopsy was minimally invasive
and had no observed complications in this study.