What is Granulomatous Mastitis?

Granulomatous mastitis is a rare condition in the breast. It is a chronic and inflammatory disease. Since it is not an infection-related process, unnecessary use of antibiotics is avoided. It is seen in patients who have given birth recently. While the patients commonly have infectious findings, there are no bacterial causes. There is discharge, mass, or redness or swelling in the breast. In this disease, called granulomatous mastitis, swelling occurs in the armpit lymph nodes at a rate of 20 percent. Granulomatous mastitis can be seen in every part of the breast except the nipple. It is seen as an important finding that there is no adhesion in the nipple but adhesion in other layers.

In this disorder, the currents occur simultaneously in several different foci. Therefore, the diagnosis of this disease is very difficult. The patient takes antibiotics for months until this diagnosis is made. Continuous drug treatments put patients in a position to affect their psychological state. It is very important to diagnose granulomatous mastitis and distinguish it from other mastitis options. This disease is confused with tuberculosis, which is rarely seen in the community. This distinction needs to be made well. Ultrasonography is a very useful diagnostic tool when clinically suspected granulomatous mastitis.

The most standard method for diagnosis with any finding seen on ultrasound is biopsy. The biopsies performed consist of fine-tipped needle biopsies that can be performed immediately, away from incision and thick-tipped needle biopsy procedures. In this type of biopsy, the diagnosis is made immediately and sent to pathology, and the result is obtained in a short time. It is necessary to prove that this disease is granulomatous mastitis pathologically and to proceed to the treatment part immediately after the diagnosis is made.

Until recently, this disease was treated with surgery or antibiotic therapy in the treatment part. However, these treatment options did not provide any benefit. Since abscesses recur frequently, it should be known that it is a disease that can never be cured with antibiotic treatment. Today, these diseases are treated with steroids. Permanent solutions are provided in the treatment of granulomatous mastitis for 2 months. Although this disease has a structure that will disrupt the patient's entire life, patients have the opportunity to improve their psychology with healing changes during the treatment. The most important thing to do in patients with Granulomatous mastitis whose treatment process is over is to continue the follow-up and controls after completing the treatment process. Because this disorder has a recurring structure, early intervention can be achieved with regular controls.