2024/07/13 by Onwuchekwa, Chinwe Regina, Alazigha, Nengi S.
#Breast cancer #breast screening #indications #mammography #morbidity #mortality
paper · doi:10.60787/tnhj.v18i1.348
Background: It is the primary imaging modality for breast diseases evaluation, cancer screening and diagnosis. The increasing incidence of breast cancer worldwide has made mammography an important tool; as mammography breast cancer screening had shown to reduce mortality. The aim of the study is to evaluate the indication for mammography referral and the prevalence of breast lesions in our locality with a view to assessing the benefits of mammography practice in our health facilities Methods: This was a prospective descriptive study of all mammogram performed during the five years of the study. Information on patient’s age, parity, last menstrual period, breastfeeding, occupation, indication for mammogram referral and past mammographic exposure were collected. Results: The patients’ age ranged from 22 to 78 years with a mean of 48.34 ±1.04 years. Indications for mammography were breast screening for cancer which constituted 97(36.60%) patients, followed by breast lump constituting 74(27.94%) patients and breast pain in 56(21.13%) patients. Evaluation of the mammographic findings showed that 158 (59.62%) patients had normal findings. The BI-RADS category showed high prevalence of category 1 which was found in 155 (58.49%) patients Conclusion: The study had shown that mammography is an important imaging modality for evaluating breast lesions. Breast screening mammography had become acceptable to women in our society, especially if the financial implication is not burdensome on them. It was also demonstrated that benign breast lesion was commoner than malignant lesion.