Mondor disease: An unusual consideration in a young woman with a breast mass

Abstract

Mondor disease is a variant of thrombophlebitis involving the thoracoepigastric lateral thoracic and/or superior epigastric veins. This entity was first described more than 100 years ago by Fagge but gained its eponym in 1939 when four cases of subcutaneous angiitis of the chest wall were described by the French surgeon Henry Mondor. All previous reports in the literature describe populations of adult women ranging in age from 21 to 66 years [with a mean of 43 years in one study and 33 years in another]. These reports generally suggest that Mondor disease is a self-limited condition with no increased risk of malignancy or other breast abnormality. However an association between Mondor disease and breast carcinoma has been suggested in a small number of older women. Mondor disease has not previously been described in the adolescent literature; however it is an important consideration in the evaluation of an adolescent with a breast mass or tenderness. (excerpt)