Mastitis, a Radiographic, Clinical, and Histopathologic Review

Breast J. 2015 Jul-Aug;21(4):403-9. doi: 10.1111/tbj.12430. Epub 2015 May 3.

Abstract

Mastitis is a benign inflammatory process of the breast with heterogeneous histopathological findings, which clinically and radiographically may mimic a mammary carcinoma. We undertook a retrospective study on 37 cases of mastitis in our institution to correlate the radiographic imaging features and the clinical presentation with the histopathological findings. Histologically, there were 21 granulomatous, 7 fibrous, 3 plasma cell, 3 lupus, 2 lymphocytic, and 1 case of acute mastitis. Radiographically, 16/25 (64%) patients with ultrasound studies showed irregular hypoechoic masses suspicious for malignancy. Clinically, 38% of patients had an associated systemic disease.

Keywords: fibrous mastitis; granulomatous mastitis; lupus mastitis; lymphocytic mastitis; plasma cell mastitis.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Female
  • Granulomatous Mastitis / diagnosis*
  • Granulomatous Mastitis / diagnostic imaging
  • Granulomatous Mastitis / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Mammography / methods
  • Middle Aged
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Ultrasonography, Mammary / methods