A rare case of tuberculous mastitis mimicking breast carcinoma

Abstract

There have been an increasing number of tuberculosis (TB) cases worldwide, but TB of the breast remainsrare. In rare cases, this is seen with a cutaneous manifestation of erythema nodosum. We report the case ofa 33-year-old woman with TB of the left breast accompanied by erythema nodosum on the anterior aspectof both lower legs and dorsum of feet. Due to her poor clinical response to conventional therapy, and thehistopathological findings of fine-needle aspiration cytology with epithelioid granuloma with caseation,there were strong indications of TB. She received antituberculous therapy (ATT) for 6 months. Duringher follow-up examination after 6 months, no evidence of either residual or recurrent disease was present.Histopathological features and a high index of clinical suspicion are necessary to confirm a diagnosis ofTB of the breast. ATT with or without simple surgical intervention is the core treatment.