[Inflammations of the mammary gland]

Abstract

Breast inflammation, i.e. mastitis is an entity with a variable etiology and severity, typically affecting women of fertile age. In most cases, anamnesis reveals the etiology of the disease, bacterial puerperal mastitis associated with breastfeeding being the most common. Periductal mastitis is a breast inflammation typically associated with smoking in women of 40 to 50 years of age, localized to the region of the areola. Granulomatous mastitis and other rare breast inflammations usually require specialized care. Regardless of etiology, treatment of acute inflammation depends on the clinical picture and, with the exception of puerperal mastitis, emergency ultrasound imaging is often necessary in order to detect an abscess and drain it. In all cases of mastitis, the possibility of underlying malignancy as well as inflammatory breast cancer should be kept in mind. If specialized care is required, breast inflammation is treated in a breast, general or plastic surgery unit.