[Mammary tuberculosis: a retrospective study of 65 cases]

Remember the clinical, morphologic and histological particularities of mammary tuberculosis. Discuss clinical and radiological diagnostic problems caused by this localization, as far as breast cancer is concerned.

This is a retrospective study concerning 65 women suffering from mammary tuberculosis, diagnosed at Salah Azaiez Institute between January 1980 and December 2001.

In this series, mammary tuberculosis represents 0.2% of the declared tubercular localizations and 0.3% of the mammary pathologies treated at the institute. The mean age of our patients was 36 years (19 to 79). Clinical findings were misleading. In 60% of cases the aspect was of a malignant tumor, in 24.6% of cases of a benign nodule and in 16.4% of cases of an abscess. The mammography concluded to a malignant lesion in 49% of cases. The fine needle aspiration achieved at 8 patients was negative in 6 cases and brought back the caseum in the 2 others. The diagnosis has been made, for all our patients, after histological study when we found typical tuberculosis lesions on pieces of tumorectomy, or biopsy. The diagnosis of tuberculosis was established; all patients had an anti-tuberculosis medical treatment in a department of infectious diseases out of the institute.

Clinical and radiological features of mammary tuberculosis are very confusing and cause a diagnostic problem with breast cancers. In front of symptoms evoking tuberculosis, biopsies must be done to eliminate an eventual cancer.