Breast tuberculosis

Abstract

Mammary tuberculosis is an uncommon presentation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, which constitutes a differential diagnosis of chronic breast lesions after ruling out malignant disease. In endemic areas, it primarily affects young women (between 20 and 40 years old) from rural areas, who are breastfeeding, with a history of pulmonary tuberculosis, or coinfected with HIV. Clinical and imaging findings are nonspecific, and the diagnosis is based on clinical suspicion and culture or inspection of the bacillus in breast tissue by biopsy. Pathognomonic features include granulomas composed of epithelioid cells with a central area of caseous necrosis and multinucleated Langhans giant cells in the periphery, located in the ductal lobular unit. Treatment has a high recovery rate and is primarily pharmacological, requiring surgical intervention only in selected cases. The present review aims to
describe the clinicopathological characteristics, epidemiology and approach to breast tuberculosis, to expedite diagnosis and timely treatment.