Abstract
A 93-year-old woman was admitted with dyspnea and dizziness and was diagnosed as having congestive heart failure. She was referred to our department with marked enlargement of the left breast detected on CT at admission. Physical examination revealed marked swelling of the breast with pitting edema, with no mass or tenderness. Ultrasonography revealed thickening of the subcutaneous tissue and a hypoechoic area of mastopathic change in the upper outer quadrant of the left breast. After six days of diuretic therapy, the symptoms of congestive heart failure improved remarkably, however, swelling of the left breast persisted, with the area appearing reddish. Core needle biopsy and skin biopsy revealed capillary dilatation with slight lymphocytic infiltration, and neither revealed evidence of malignancy. After two months of diuretic therapy, the swelling of the left breast almost completely disappeared. We report a case of breast enlargement caused by congestive heart failure that was difficult to distinguish from inflammatory breast carcinoma, with a review of the literature.
