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Case Reports
. 2014 Sep 22:2014:bcr2013202384.
doi: 10.1136/bcr-2013-202384.

Bone formation within a breast abscess

Gurdeep Singh Mannu  1 , Farid Ahmed  1 , Giles Cunnick  1 , Naren Mungalsingh  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Bone formation within a breast abscess

Gurdeep Singh Mannu et al. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

We present a rare case of osseous metaplasia in a poorly healing breast abscess. An 87-year-old woman was referred to the breast surgery clinic with a painful lump in her right breast. Initial imaging and core biopsy suggested a breast abscess. Despite several courses of antibiotics and repeated attempts at aspiration the painful lesion persisted. It was eventually surgically excised in its entirety and final histopathology showed the presence of bone formation within the abscess. The patient's symptoms subsequently resolved. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case in the literature, of osseous metaplasia within a breast abscess in the absence of malignancy.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The excised breast abscess, magnification ×10. Granulation tissue (G) with osseous metaplasia (O).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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