Paraffinoma

Abstract

A 58-year-old woman was given an injection of paraffin into her breasts in 1958. Twenty-four years later, an ulcer appeared in the right breast. Light and electron microscopic observations were performed. Histologically, numerous large and small ovoid or round cavities that appeared like Swiss cheese were seen. The spaces between the cavities were taken up in part by hyalinoid stroma and in part by a cellular infiltrate of macrophages and lymphoid cells. The ultrastructural study showed evidence of paraffin located below. 1) Paraffin solitarily located in collagen fibers. 2) Paraffin surrounded by fibroblasts. 3) Macrophages containing paraffin. 4) Deposition of paraffin in the lymph nodes.