Fibrocystic mastopathy – causes, diagnosis, treatment

The concept of “fibrocystic mastopathy” of the mammary gland includes many histologically diverse states. From the point of view of the pathologist, there is no such thing. This term combines a variety of histological changes – from individual variants of the norm to certain pathological conditions.

The mammary gland is a heterogeneous organ; non-lactating normal mammary gland consists mainly of adipose and fibrous tissue, which are often unevenly distributed. This leads to physiological heterogeneity, unevenness and glandular consistency of the gland. A biopsy of these nodules reveals mainly fibrous tissue and the epithelium of the mammary gland.

Although this is a variant of the norm, in most institutions it is called fibrocystic disease, fibrocystic changes, dysplasia of the mammary glands, chronic cystic mastitis, or one of many other terms.

Such changes of the breast are usually bilateral and multiple. They are characterized by the presence of dull pain, a feeling of tension and soreness. These symptoms are aggravated before menstruation, simultaneously with an increase in the size of the lesions.

In the presence of a cyst, the patient often reports a sudden onset of a painful formation, while noting that during the last examination neither she nor the doctor had noticed such an education. On palpation, these formations have a cystic character, are painful, clearly delineated, slightly displaceable, and transmit light during diaphanoscopy.

During puncture, a cloudy, non-hemorrhagic fluid with a yellow, greenish, or brownish tint is usually obtained. Deeply located cysts, clusters of cysts or nodules resulting from sclerosing adeno-dysplasia or dysplasia with the growth of dense fibrous tissue can mimic the clinical picture of breast cancer.