Breast tuberculosis: report of eight cases

Tuberculosis of the breast is an extremely rare disease, which is still present and is also misdiagnosed with carcinoma or bacterial abscesses. In this study, we reported on eight patients with mammary tuberculosis during a four-year period. The main signs and symptoms of the patients included a painful tender lump in the breast (n=4), a painless lump in the breast (n=3), a lump with sinus (n=1), a sinus without lump (n=1), and an ipsilateral axillary lymphadenopathy (n=1). The diagnosis was confirmed by fine-needle aspiration cytology or histology. Antitubercular therapy was the therapeutic mainstay. Surgical intervention was reserved for aspiration of cold abscesses, and excision of residual sinuses and masses.