Breast Evaluation Findings in Calabar, Nigeria

Evaluation of patients presenting with breast symptoms or for breast screening in the outpatients department and at the imaging department without referrals is quite a common phenomenon. It is therefore not surprising that hospital breast services in the United Kingdom have come under increasing pressure from their diagnostic work load in breast disease, both for symptomatic persons and for breast cancer screening [1]. This unfortunately cannot be reported as same in developing countries such as ours. Despite several efforts by government to increase the awareness of breast cancer in our country, patients do not often seek breast evaluation till very late in the disease [2, 3]. Common breast symptoms seen in women and sometimes in men include breast pain, lump, nipple discharge and chronic ulceration of the breast [4]. In Calabar, SouthSouth Nigeria, many individuals present for screening, contrary to what was observed in other studies done within Nigeria [4].