Presentation
GP referral 6 weeks post partum with left breast pain and lumpiness
Patient Data
Age: 35 years
Gender: Female
From the case:
Lactating breast
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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.