AbstractIntroduction: The Triple test score includes triad of clinical examination, imaging studies and FNAC to arrive at a diagnosis. In TTS each component of the triple test score is rated as benign, suspicious or malignant and assigned 1,2 or 3 points respectively based on each type of examination thereby reducing the need for unnecessary surgeries. The current prospective study was carried out in our diagnostic centre with aim of evaluating the role of TTS in palpable breast masses and classifying them into benign, suspicious and malignant categories based on the TTS and advising biopsies in case of discordant results.
Materials and methods: The present prospective study was conducted on 200 female patients coming to our diagnostic centre with complaints of breast lump between January to December 2017. Each parameter of the TTS was assigned a score of 1,2 or 3 based on it being benign, suspicious or malignant lesion. A BIRADs score was also assigned to each lump based on imaging studies. A score of ≤ 4 was considered to be benign and ≥ 6 was considered to be malignant with score of 5 in suspicious category. Results: 98.7% benign lesions had TTS below 4, 6.25% suspicious lesions had a TTS of 5.63.55%malignant lesions had a TTS of ≥ 6.When these lesions were correlated with histopathology findings, the sensitivity and specificity of TTS was 94.5% and 98.17% respectively with a PPV of 97.73% and NPV of 95.54%. Conclusion: Triple test score can be used as a reliable and non invasive diagnostic test for evaluating palpable breast masses with high degree of accuracy thus avoiding unnecessary surgeries. When the results are concordant, the diagnosis is most often final. When there are discordant results, biopsy is mandatory for confirmation.
Keywords: Breast Lumps; Triple Test `Score; Fnac; Mammography.