Case 5
26 year old lactating female with left upper painful breast mass, about 5-7 cm from the nipple, felt initially by patient and also by clinician
Question 1:
Is breast cancer the most likely consideration in this setting?
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Answer:
No, but should be excluded for all palpable masses. Most breast cancers are not painful and the patient's age makes breast cancer less likely unless she has a strong family history or a known cancer genetic mutation
No, but should be excluded for all palpable masses. Most breast cancers are not painful and the patient's age makes breast cancer less likely unless she has a strong family history or a known cancer genetic mutation
Case 5
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Question 2:
Can you think of anything that would fit with the patient's symptoms?
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Answer:
Painful masses are rarely due to malignancy, and in a lactating female the most likely diagnoses would be mastitis, breast abscess, or galactocele, which is what this mass was on needle aspiration, which yielded milky fluid.
Painful masses are rarely due to malignancy, and in a lactating female the most likely diagnoses would be mastitis, breast abscess, or galactocele, which is what this mass was on needle aspiration, which yielded milky fluid.
