Treatment of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis and factors related with disease recurrence

Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis is a rare, benign inflammatory disease of breast. There is no general agreement on the appropriate treatment choice. The aim of the study was to investigate the immunosuppressive administer for idiopathic granulomatous mastitis and risk factors related with disease recurrence.

The data of 53 patients with idiopathic granulomatous mastitis were evaluated for this cross-sectional retrospective study. Demographic features and clinical characteristics and course of the patients were obtained from file records.

The mean age of the patients was 37.2 ± 6.6 years. Fifty-one of 53 patients received immunosuppressive treatment with or without surgery. Forty-seven (88.6%) of the patients received only immunosuppressive treatment without surgery, while 4 (7.54%) patients received immunosuppressive treatment after surgery. Forty-one (77.3%) of 47 patients who had no surgical resection received methotrexate as immunosuppressive treatment. The other 6 (11.3%) patients received azathioprine or corticosteroid treatment. Complete or partial remission was observed in 50 (98%) of 51 patients who received immunosuppressive treatment, while only 1 (2%) patient did not reach remission. No factors were found related with recurrence of disease.

Methotrexate seems to be efficient in the treatment of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis and provides drug-free remission.