BILATERAL TUBERCULOUS MASTITIS - A RARE ENTITY

The significance of breast tuberculosis is due to rare occurrence and mistaken identity with breast cancer and pyogenic breast abscess. Breast tuberculosis was scarcely reported even from endemic areas until lately when several reports have come up from South Africa and India. The incidence of tubercular mastitis although decreasing in the West, shows resurgence with the global pandemic of AIDS. Diagnosis is based on identification of typical histological features or the tubercle bacilli under microscopy or culture. Anti Tubercular Therapy (ATT) for 6 months with or without minimal surgical intervention forms the mainstay of treatment today. A forty years old female presented with bilateral discharging sinuses from breasts with bilateral axillary lymphadenitis for six months. Histopathological examination from axillary lymph nodes and breast ulcer margin showed features of tuberculosis lesion. The patient is on treatment with ATT. Tuberculous mastitis is a rare extra-pulmonary presentation of tuberculosis accounting for less than 0.1 of all diseases of the breast. Bilateral involvement is further rare. This case is being presented because of its rarity and bilateral simultaneous involvement of both breasts