Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 26, 2026

Sectioning Mammary Gland Whole Mounts for Lesion Identification
Published on: July 24, 2017
Fatty tissue breast lesions
Margaret H Pui1, Isidore J Movson
1Department of Radiology, Addington Hospital, PO Box 977, Durban 4000, South Africa. puimarg@hhsc.ca
Abstract:
Hamartoma, lipoma and fat necrosis are benign fatty tissue lesions that may present as breast lumps. The mammographic appearance may be distinctive allowing imaging diagnosis without biopsy. The characteristic feature of hamartoma is that of a compressible mass containing radiolucent fat interchanged with dense fibrous connective tissue surrounded by a thin radioopaque pseudocapsule. Lipomas are radiolucent with well-defined thin smooth capsule. Twenty-seven percent of fat necrosis appears as discrete round or oval radiolucent oil cyst with thin capsule and egg-shell calcification.

