
Breast infiltrate
Signs and causes of breast infiltration
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The concept of infiltration determines the concentration in the tissues of the body of cells in which there is an admixture of blood and lymph, that is, this is a tissue site, which is characterized by the presence of cellular elements usually not inherent in it, an increased volume of tissue and its density above normal. Common types of infiltration are inflammatory and neoplastic. The infiltrate that has arisen in the mammary gland is a sign of infiltrative mastitis and belongs to an inflammatory type. The cause of this disease is the development of an infectious process.
Signs of breast infiltration
Signs of inflammation in the mammary gland are pain, local temperature, swelling of the gland and redness. If a woman is breastfeeding a baby, then it is necessary to establish how the lactation process is going (little or a lot of milk, is there a need for expressing). Milk stagnant in the ducts of the mammary gland, as a rule, causes symptoms of inflammation and intoxication. The infiltrate in this case extends to most of the gland, more often it is its outer part.
The infiltrate has fuzzy boundaries, the skin over it acquires a bluish color, palpation causes sharp pain, local and general hyperemia is observed. However, you should be even more alert if inflammatory signs occur in women after 30 years of age who do not breastfeed. Under them can be masked atypical forms of cancer, rapidly progressing in the mammary gland. A large area of skin may have the appearance of a lemon peel and be severely hyperemic, which gives reason to suspect a tumor.
Symptoms of bluish, glossy skin characterize subcutaneous mastitis. Pain, swelling, nipple hyperemia are the hallmarks of subareal mastitis. Deep infiltration without changes in the skin, but with an elevated temperature, dense and painful manifests itself with intramamar type mastitis. Deep infiltration with purulent formation, especially in women who do not breastfeed and have never given birth, is an indicator of the presence of costal osteomyelitis, congestion under the gland and other diseases. Inflammations are always fixed, have sharp pain and do not visually change the mammary gland.
Diagnosis of breast infiltration
When diagnosing any changes in the tissues of the breast, several basic principles are followed.
- The first is the exclusion of cancer. Therefore, the doctor makes the final conclusion based on the study of the histological material.
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Second, no matter what changes one mammary gland undergoes, the other is necessarily examined in order to avoid the development of dyshormonal hyperplasia.
- Third, studies of a hormonal nature are carried out in case of correction of hormonal disorders.
A study of the size of the inflammatory infiltrate and its connection with adjacent tissues, the chest wall is carried out, it is determined whether there is a transition beyond the gland. Subareole mastitis is dangerous by the breakthrough of the formed abscess under the areola. An infiltrate that makes the mammary gland immobile is characteristic of the inflammatory process of the chest wall. If, upon palpation of the infiltrate, the finger falls through, that is, there is softening, then an abscess has formed in the mammary gland.
The infiltrate for mastitis has characteristics that depend on the localization of the inflammation process. Vague deep pain, the presence of intoxication, the impossibility of palpation (especially with a large gland) indicate retromamar mastitis. In cases of doubt, the mammologist always prescribes a deep puncture, during which he monitors the density tissue sensation when the needle is advanced. Deep infiltrates require radiography of the spine and ribs. Breast diseases are dealt with by a mammologist.
Breast Infiltrate Treatment
The slightest suspicion of an inflammatory process in the mammary gland requires an immediate visit to a specialist, a mammologist. This disease, with accurate diagnosis and immediate treatment aimed at eliminating the cause and suppressing the infectious process, has a good prognosis. In the treatment of infiltration, a conservative technique is used - antibiotic therapy, in which potent broad-spectrum drugs are involved. In order for the infiltration to dissolve, it takes up to 7 days. In the presence of intoxication, detoxification methods are used (infusion of glucose solution, electrolytes).

Article author: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | d. m. n. therapist
Education: Moscow Medical Institute. IM Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational Diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".