Role of MIBI breast scintigraphy in evaluation of palpable breast lesions

The sensitivity and specificity of MIBI breast scintigraphy, conventional mammography and ultrasound in differentiating malignant and benign palpable breast lesions was compared in 48 women. MIBI breast scintigraphy had a sensitivity of 97% a specificity of 69%, a positive predictive value of 87.5% and a negative predictive value of 91.7%. Ultrasound and mammography had comparable results with accuracy rates of approximately 93%. We conclude that MIBI breast scintigraphy may have a complementary role in the evaluation of palpable breast lesions, but is not specific enough to replace current imaging modalities.