Mastitis and mammary duct disease

A review of the cases of major inflammatory disease of the breast seen during an 11-year period found that 49 (77%) of the 64 cases that required hospitalization were not associated with pregnancy or lactation. In such cases, an aggressive surgical approach including excision of central nipple ducts revealed a variant of mammary duct ectasia in 13 of the 14 patients operated on. We believe that when surgery is required for treatment of mastitis, it should include nipple duct excision.