Prospective evaluation of the triple test for the diagnosis of palpable breast mass.

Objective: To evaluate the validity of the triple test (clinical examination mammography and fine-needle aspiration biopsy) in diagnosing palpable breast mass. Methods: It was a prospective study for the validation of diagnostic tests carried out at Center for Integral Assistance to Womens Health of the State University of Campinas. The participants were 102 women older than 30 years of age referred to a tertiary level hospital with palpable breast mass. The estimates of sensitivity specificity and predictive values of the triple test were calculated using the histological evaluation of the lesions as the gold standard. Results: The triple test presented sensitivity of 90% specificity and positive predictive value of 100% and negative predictive value of 82%. An evaluation of combinations of two tests was also performed and the clinical examination with the fine-needle aspiration biopsy showed the best performance (sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 87%). Conclusion: The use of the triple test especially when the results of the three tests are concordant could decrease the number of surgeries in the case of benign diseases and the number of complementary diagnostic procedures in the case of malignant diseases. (authors)