Benign breast tumours in an African population

A detailed prospective clinical study of 238 women presenting with benign breast swellings in the South Eastern equatorial rainforest of Nigeria clearly shows that 94% of lesions were due to two disorders, fibroadenomas and bacterial infections, and that they affected mostly young women in the peak of their reproductive life. Fibroadenoma which accounted for disease in no less than 69% of the women was multiple in 8%, bilateral in 11%, and was considered giant in size in 5% of the cases; by contrast, fibroadenosis was rare, accounting for swellings in only eight patients. Bacterial infections, chronic pyogenic mastitis and tuberculosis together caused breast swellings in 25% of the women studied. In tropical Africa, multiple chronic discharging sinuses suggest tuberculosis of the breast.