Breast aneurysm
Breast aneurysms are a rarely seen cause of a breast mass.
On this page:
Pathology
Types
- true aneurysm: occurs post trauma and is seen as a slowly enlarging pulsatile mass
- false aneurysm / pseudoaneurysm: occurs in acute trauma, post percutaneous biopsy, due to spontaneous haemorrhage secondary to coagulopathies or due to malignant vascular invasion
Radiographic features
Ultrasound
On grey scale ultrasound it may be seen as an anechoic, well-defined cystic structures with moving contents within. Colour Doppler may show vascularity with turbulent flow.
CT
May show brilliant contrast enhancement within the lesion, similar to an adjacent vessel.
Treatment and prognosis
Management options include:
- external compression
- thrombin injection
- angioembolisation with coils
- surgical repair
Related articles
Breast imaging and pathology
- breast screening
-
mammography
- breast imaging and the technologist
- forbidden (check) areas in mammography
-
mammography views
- craniocaudal view
- mediolateral oblique view
- additional (supplementary) views
- true lateral view
- lateromedial oblique view
- late mediolateral view
- step oblique views
- spot view
- double spot compression view
- magnification view
- exaggerated craniocaudal (axillary) view
- cleavage view
- tangential views
- caudocranial view
- bullseye CC view
- rolled CC view
- elevated craniocaudal projection
- caudal cranial projection
- 20° oblique projection
- inferomedial superolateral oblique projection
- Eklund technique
- normal breast imaging examples
- digital breast tomosynthesis
- breast ultrasound
- breast ductography
- breast MRI
- breast morphology
- breast pathology
- malignant lesions
-
breast cancer
- breast adenocacrinoma
- ductal breast carcinoma
- ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
- invasive ductal carcinoma
- lobular breast carcinoma
- ductal breast carcinoma
- adenoid cystic carcinoma of the breast
- apocrine carcinoma of the breast
- breast cancer metastases
- breast lymphoma
- breast sarcoma
- inflammatory carcinoma of breast
- intracystic breast cancer
- male breast cancer
- malignant phyllodes tumour
- metastases to the breast
- metaplastic carcinoma the breast
- gamuts
- breast adenocacrinoma
-
breast cancer
- borderline breast disease / high risk breast lesion
- benign lesions
- adenosis of the breast
- benign papillary lesions of the breast
- breast cyst
- breast haematoma
- breast hamartoma
- breast lipoma
- ductal adenoma of the breast
- epidermal inclusion cysts of the breast
- fat necrosis of the breast
- fibroadenoma
- granular cell tumour of the breast
- gynaecomastia
- lymphocytic mastitis
- mammary fibromatosis
- oil cyst
- phyllodes tumour
- post surgical breast scar
- post traumatic fibrosis
- pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH)
- pseudogynaecomastia
- tubular adenoma
-
breast calcifications (approach)
- morphology
- distribution
- location
- lobular calcification within breast tissue
- intraductal calcification within breast tissue
- milk of calcium within a breast cyst
- vascular calcification in breast tissue
- skin (dermal) calcification in / around breast tissue
- suture calcification within breast tissue
- stromal calcification within breast tissue
- artifactual calcification from outside the breast
- suspicious breast calcifications
- infection/inflammation
- vascular lesions
- systemic disease
- gamuts
- classification systems
- malignant lesions
- breast cancer staging