Idiopathic Granulomatous Mastitis-A Mystery Yet to be Unraveled: A Case Series and Review of Literature

Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the breast, the etiology of which, has still not been elucidated. There have been several mechanisms proposed to explain the pathogenesis. Since the first description of the disease, it has proved itself to be a great diagn...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2020-02, Vol.12 (2), p.e6895
Main Authors: Mathew Thomas, Vinay, Alexander, Swetha Ann, Bindal, Poorva, Vredenburgh, James
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibiotics
Biopsy
Breast cancer
Breasts
Case reports
Etiology
Infections
Mammography
Oncology
Pain
Pathology
Patients
Rheumatology
Skin
Steroids
Ultrasonic imaging
Womens health
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Summary:Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the breast, the etiology of which, has still not been elucidated. There have been several mechanisms proposed to explain the pathogenesis. Since the first description of the disease, it has proved itself to be a great diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. It is very often misdiagnosed as cancer, resulting in myriad workup by the physician and great distress to the patient. Clear guidelines as to the management have still not been described. Here, we describe two patients who presented with IGM and have been successfully treated. The first patient was treated with a combination of steroids and antibiotics. The second patient achieved remission of the disease with antibiotics alone. We also propose an algorithm for the management of IGM.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.6895