Breast tuberculosis: a report of five cases

BACKGROUND: Breast tuberculosis is a rare form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis with clinical and radiological misleading presentations. We report herein a retrospective study of clinicopathological features of five cases of breast tuberculosis collected at Hassan II University Hospital of Fès, Morocco, a country where tuberculosis is endemic. CASE PRESENTATION: The mean age was 40.6 years (range of 21-59 years). Two patients presented with abscessed lesions, and three cases presented with breast lumps with a suspicion of malignancy on imaging techniques. The diagnosis has been made on histological specimens (3 biopsy specimens, 1 excisional biopsy, and 1 lumpectomy). All patients have been successfully treated after the completion of the standard antibiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Our current study shows that the breast is rarely affected by tuberculosis even in endemic area. The clinical presentation is often misleading, and the histopathological analysis constitutes a valuable diagnostic tool. The prognosis of breast tuberculosis is good after treatment by a standard antibiotherapy.