Lactating breast

Case contributed by Mark Holland
Diagnosis not applicable

Presentation

GP referral 6 weeks post partum with left breast pain and lumpiness

Patient Data

Age: 35 years
Gender: Female
mammography

The breast is very dense, heterogeneously coarse, nodular, and confluent, with a marked decrease in adipose tissue and a prominent ductal pattern. No obvious mass or collection is noted. Benign appearing small axillary lymph node is noted.

Case Discussion

  • dense breast makes evaluation of a mass difficult
  • 88% of lactating women have dense or heterogeneously dense mammograms
  • pregnancy-associated breast carcinoma (PABC) represents up to 3% of all breast malignancies
  • incidence of PABC is 1 in 3000–10,000 pregnancies. More than 50% of patients present with high-grade tumors that include inflammatory tumors and have lymph node involvement. 

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