A Case of a 77-year-old Woman with Noninvasive Ductal Carcinoma of the Breast Incidentally Discovered after Acute Mastistis

Abstract

Acute mastitis includes stagnation mastitis caused due to milk stagnation and suppurative mastitis caused by bacterial infection of the nipple, which is more common during the postpartum period and rarely occurs in atrophied mammary glands of the elderly. Here, we present a case of an elderly patient with noninvasive ductal carcinoma of the breast who presented with acute mastitis. The patient was a 77-year-old woman who visited her previous doctor due to left breast pain and redness and swelling around the nipple areola. She was diagnosed with mastitis and referred to our hospital for a thorough examination after the administration of antimicrobial agents. Redness was observed and an induration was palpable in the EDBC and DCE areas, respectively, of the left breast. The redness disappeared quickly with antimicrobial agents ; however, mammography showed clusters of pleomorphic calcifications in the L-MS/OS and breast ultrasonography revealed an intraductal solid lesion with multiple hyperechoic foci in the left CDE area. Since she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma with neuroendocrine features based on a core needle biopsy, total mastectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy were performed. The histopathological diagnosis of the resected specimen was noninvasive ductal carcinoma with neuroendocrine features, which was distributed over an area of approximately 50 mm. Currently, the patient is under postoperative observation without any treatment.