Fibrous disease of the breast, thyroiditis, and cheiroarthropathy in type I diabetes mellitus.

Fibrous breast lumps were noted in 12 women with longstanding type I diabetes mellitus who had multiple diabetic complications including cheiroarthropathy (11 of 12). 5 of the 12 women also had thyroid microsomal antibodies (greater than 1:1000). The coexistence of cheiroarthropathy and fibrosis of the breasts raises the possibility of a common link related to the connective-tissue abnormalities observed in diabetes. Although autoimmunity may also be a factor, HLA histocompatibility typing did not indicate that these patients formed a distinct subgroup of type I diabetics.