Presentation and diagnosis of adolescent breast disease

Breast disease in the adolescent female is fortunately uncommon, with most presenting lesions being benign. The type and frequency of breast problems in young women less than 20 years of age are discussed in this paper. There were 634 adolescent females (9-19 years) referred to the Wesley Breast Clinic between January 1990 and December 1999. Of these, 62.6% were aged 18-19 years. The commonest reason for referral was a lump or thickening in the breast (n=554, 87.4%). Six hundred and nineteen females had ultrasound performed, with 59% showing no abnormality. The commonest abnormality in the remainder was probable fibroadenoma (n=162). Twenty-two percent of the females in the study had fine needle aspiration performed; none showed suspicious cytology. Twenty-three females had an excision biopsy following their initial visit. Three of these were found to have benign phyllodes tumour. There were no malignancies detected, although one female had previous DCIS diagnosed elsewhere.