Fatty necrosis of the breast
Fatty necrosis of the breast is called the process of focal necrosis of the fatty tissue of the breast and its subsequent replacement with scar tissue. There is fatty necrosis of the breast after various injuries (accidental bruises and bumps in transport or at home, during training or medical manipulations). Less often, the cause of fatty necrosis of the breast is radiation therapy or rapid weight loss. In some cases, fatty necrosis of the breast may occur in a patient who has undergone reconstructive mammoplasty.
The content of the article:
Symptoms of breast fat necrosis
Diagnosis of breast fat necrosis
Treatment and prevention of breast fat necrosis
Fatty necrosis of the breast
In all these cases, the integrity of small vessels may be disrupted, the blood supply to this area may stop. All this leads to the development of fatty necrosis of the breast. The most common fatty necrosis of the breast occurs in women with full breasts.
Symptoms of breast fat necrosis
Most often, fatty necrosis of the breast is preceded by any injury to the breast. At the site of injury, a painless tumor of dense consistency and rounded shape is formed. Sometimes, with fatty necrosis of the breast, patients complain of discomfort and pain in some areas of the breast. But most often, fatty necrosis of the breast has unexpressed symptoms, and tumors are detected only by palpation.
With the further development of fatty necrosis of the breast, sensitivity may be lost in this area of the breast. With the formation of fatty necrosis of the gland, the skin is, as it were, soldered to the tumor and acquires a red or cyanotic color. In addition, with fatty necrosis of the breast in the area of the area, the nipple may be retracted, which makes the patient think about the development of a tumor. The external similarity with cancer to fatty necrosis of the breast is given by an increase in lymph nodes and the appearance of irregularities and dimples on the skin. In fact, fatty necrosis of the breast is a benign formation, it can only simulate a malignant tumor in diagnosis.
After the inflammatory process in the mammary gland subsides, the process of replacing necrotic masses with connective tissue begins. As a result, scar tissue is formed at the site of fatty necrosis of the breast. With the unfavorable development of fatty necrosis of the breast, septic melting of the focus and rejection of the damaged area from the surrounding tissues may occur.
Diagnosis of breast fat necrosis
When diagnosing breast fat necrosis, it is very important that the patient reports a breast injury. During an external examination of the glands, the doctor may note redness or blueness of the skin, as well as the presence of irregularities and retractions on the skin. When palpating the breast, the doctor will easily determine the seal, sometimes painful. The contours of such a seal with fatty necrosis will be indistinct. But ultrasound of the breast will not reveal the characteristic signs of fatty necrosis of the breast. Conducting an overview mammography or MRI of the breast during diagnosis allows you to identify a nodular formation with uneven edges and a heterogeneous structure. Since the picture with fatty necrosis of the breast resembles the picture with breast cancer, this will require additional research. In the future, when calcium salts are deposited on the site, and calcification of the focus occurs, fatty necrosis of the mammary gland on mammograms will look like spherical calcinate, resembling an eggshell. This will allow the diagnosis to exclude the malignancy of the ongoing process in the mammary gland.
Until this happens, a biopsy is required for fatty necrosis of the mammary glands. Breast biopsy is performed under control — X-ray or ultrasound. After that, the obtained samples are necessarily sent for cytological and histological examination. This makes it possible to differentiate fatty necrosis of the breast and exclude the development of cancer.
Treatment and prevention of breast fat necrosis
Since fatty necrosis of the breast is characterized by irreversible changes in adipose tissue, drug treatment in this case will lead to nothing. In addition, it is very difficult to completely differentiate fatty necrosis of the breast even during a biopsy. Therefore, sectoral resection is used as a treatment for fatty necrosis of the breast. It allows you to remove only a part (sector) of the breast.
Further postoperative examination of the macropreparation will completely eliminate the oncological process in the breast. Microscopically, fatty necrosis is a nodular growth of granulation tissue. One of the components of fat necrosis will be fat cysts. Under the microscope, they are thin-walled formations that are filled with an oily liquid.
Fatty necrosis of the mammary glands is a disease that is easier to prevent than to treat later. In order to prevent fat necrosis, injuries to the mammary glands should be avoided. If the injury still occurred, it is necessary to give the mammary gland an elevated position with a bandage and contact a mammologist.
Periodically, you should contact a specialist not only in case of injury, but also for prevention in order to avoid fatty necrosis of the mammary glands. Such examinations should become mandatory for every woman, this will allow timely detection of breast diseases, diagnosis and exclude oncological processes in the breast. And, of course, every woman should perform an independent examination of the glands at least once a month.
