Abstract
Breast tuberculosis is an uncommon presentation of extra pulmonary tuberculosis. A 40-year-old obese woman presented with a right breast abscess which had failed to heal after surgical drainage. There was no family history of breast disease. Biopsy and histology of the lesion showed chronic granulomatous inflammation with positive stains for acid fast bacilli compatible with tuberculosis. Further evaluation confirmed metabolic syndrome with type 2 diabetes mellitus. She was placed on antituberculosis chemotherapy and appropriate therapy for diabetes mellitus with complete resolution of the lesion. We report this case because of its rarity and to highlight the association between tuberculosis an infectious disease and overnutrition in diabetes mellitus, a noncommunicable disease.
Highlights
Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia
The TB epidemic is fueled by immunosuppression especially HIV, but, recently, diabetes mellitus has been recognized as an important risk factor and the two epidemics are set to converge [2, 3] this time with the epidemic of a noncommunicable disease fuelling an epidemic of an infectious disease
As rural societies in developing countries westernize and lifestyle and eating habits change, it is projected that 366 million people will have diabetes mellitus by 2030 with most of them living in Africa and Asia [4]
Summary
Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. As rural societies in developing countries westernize and lifestyle and eating habits change, it is projected that 366 million people will have diabetes mellitus by 2030 with most of them living in Africa and Asia [4]. We present a case of breast tuberculosis in a Nigerian woman who presented with a breast abscess that is thought to be pyogenic initially, but, on histology, it was found to be tuberculosis of the breast with the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus. We highlight this emerging interaction between the two conditions and proffer solutions for control
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