Rajan Arora1, Amany Abou-Bakr, Ahmed Al Taleb. 1. Department of Pathology, Farwaniya Hospital, P.O. Box 18373, Farwaniya 81004, Kuwait. arorarajan73@rediffmail.com
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Spontaneous infarction of fibroadenoma is an extremely rare complication in a nonpregnant/nonlactating female undergoing first-time aspiration. It can be misdiagnosed as carcinoma in all aspects of triple approach used for evaluation of patients with breast lesions. CASE: A 37-year-old woman presented to the outpatient surgical clinic with a 6-month history of a breast lump that was slowly increasing in size and had become painful during the past month. There was no history of any trauma or fine needle aspiration, and she was not pregnant or lactating. Mammogram and ultrasound revealed a 2.9-cm heterogenous hypoechoic suspicious lesion. No lymph nodes were detected in the axilla. Fine needle aspiration cytology was performed, and a diagnosis of benign breast lesion with features of infarction was rendered on cytology. The lump was excised surgically, and a histological diagnosis of infarcted fibroadenoma was made. CONCLUSION: Careful and diligent search for preserved benign epithelial cells on smears is the key to recognize this entity and avoid serious therapeutic implications.
BACKGROUND: Spontaneous infarction of fibroadenoma is an extremely rare complication in a nonpregnant/nonlactating female undergoing first-time aspiration. It can be misdiagnosed as carcinoma in all aspects of triple approach used for evaluation of patients with breast lesions. CASE: A 37-year-old woman presented to the outpatient surgical clinic with a 6-month history of a breast lump that was slowly increasing in size and had become painful during the past month. There was no history of any trauma or fine needle aspiration, and she was not pregnant or lactating. Mammogram and ultrasound revealed a 2.9-cm heterogenous hypoechoic suspicious lesion. No lymph nodes were detected in the axilla. Fine needle aspiration cytology was performed, and a diagnosis of benign breast lesion with features of infarction was rendered on cytology. The lump was excised surgically, and a histological diagnosis of infarcted fibroadenoma was made. CONCLUSION: Careful and diligent search for preserved benign epithelial cells on smears is the key to recognize this entity and avoid serious therapeutic implications.