BREAST Flashcards
In a history what do you ask for about the presence of lump and charcatersitics?
- Site
- Size
- Duration
- Onset
- Change in symptoms
- Pain
- Skin changes
What questions about nipples do you ask in a history?
- Discharge: amount, colour, consistency
- Bleeding
- . Inversion
What associated symptoms do you ask about in a breast history?
- Relationship to LMP + Sx
- Pain
- Skin changes
- FLAWS
- Back pain or breathlessness
- . Any other lumps or gland swelling
What are breast cysts?
‘lumpy’ breasts associated with pain and tenderness that fluctuate with the menstrual cycle
What are risk factors for breast cysts?
- obesity
- nulliparity
- oestrogen replacement therapy
- late-onset menopause
- later age at first childbirth
- Age 30-50 years
What are symptoms of breast cysts?
- Mastalgia: Pain may be cyclical or non-cyclical
diffuse and bilateral but may be localised to an area of the breast often associated with a ruptured cyst - Diffuse symmetrical lumpiness through both breasts
- Nipple discharge
What are some differential diagnosis for breast cysts?
Chest wall pain Costochondritis Fibroadenoma Breast cancer Intracystic papilloma
What are complications of breast cysts?
LT Breast cancer
What are the investigations for a breast cyst?
- Mammography
- Breast ultrasound
- Cyst aspiration (symptomatic)
- Biopsy (to exclude breast cancer or a high risk pathology) – if palpable solid mass or imaging studies
What is a positive finding on a mammogram for a breast cyst?
dense breasts, circumscribed density
What is an positive ultrasound finding for breast cysts?
Breast cysts, solid mass
What is a positive finding for a breast cyst in cysts aspiration?
straw-coloured, bloody fluid
What is a positive finding for a biopsy for a breast cyst?
apocrine metaplasia, fibrosis, cyst formation, and proliferative changes, atypical ductal hyperplasia
What is the management plan for a breast cyst?
Supportive measure (reassurance), analgesia and observation of nipple discharge
What is the prognosis for breast cysts?
can relapse
What is breast mastitis?
Breast inflammation
What is the common epidemiology of someone with breast mastitis?
- 15-45 y/o
- Especially those who are breast-feeding (6-8 weeks/weaning)
- > 30y/o smokers are also at risk
- Staphylococcus aureus = most common pathogen
• Can enter through cracked skin e.g nipple
What are the symptoms of breast mastitis?
- generalized swelling of breast, inflamed overlying skin – nipple may be cracked
- redness, firm
- very tender + uncomfortable, warm to touch
- Flu like symptoms: fever, aches,
chills, generally unwell
How does non-lactational breast mastitis present?
present with
a history of previous infections with
less pronounced systemic upset
What are the complications of breast mastitis?
- Breast abscess = collection of pus in the breast tissue due to infection
- Mammary fistula
- Rarely overlying skin may undergo necrosis
What is the investigations for someone with breast mastitis?
- Focused history
- Physical exam: temp
- Pregnancy test (if unexpected)
- US of an erythematous breast area
- Diagnostic needle aspiration drainage
- cytology of nipple discharge or sample from FN aspiration
- Milk aspirate, discharge or biopsy tissue for culture and sensitivity
- histopathological examination of biopsy tissue
What is the management of a suspected breast abcess?
- IV or oral Abx
- US guided FNA
- Therapeutic + diagnostic uses
- FBC + blood cultures (if systemic infection)
- Surgical incision + drainage
What is the management of breast mastitis?
- If lactational: ENCOURAGE BREAST FEEDING
- Analgesia
- Abx sometimes required
What is the prognosis of breast mastitis?
•Untreated: breast abscess may discharge onto skin surface
•Non-lactational breast abscesses tend to re-occur
Mastitis recover in 2-3 dys
What is breast cancer?
malignancy of breast tissue
What is the most common type of breast cancer?
invasive ductal carcinoma
What are risk factors for breast cancer?
- Age
- FHx – 1st degree relative
- Obesity
- ↑ Oestrogen exposure
- Early menarche (<11)
- Late menopause (>55)
- HRT/OCP
- EtOH consumption
- Fatty diet
- Previous radiation to the chest
- Nulliparity (not having any children)
- Familial breast cancer – 5% of cases
- BRCA1/2: harmful BRCA mutation 60-80% lifetime risk of developing Breast Ca
- Associations with Ovarian and Pancreatic Ca
What are the site and skin changes in breast cancer?
- Increased size
- lump
- skin changes:
- Armpit skin thickening
- peau d’orange
- skin dimpling
- nipple discharge (sometimes bloody)
- nipple inversion
- eczematous-looking skin (Paget’s)
What is the consistency of the lump in breast cancer?
- hard lump
- irregular margins
- redness
- non-compressible
How tender is the lump in breast cancer?
generally painless, inflammatory breast Ca: painful, warm
How fixed is the lump in breast cancer?
tethered to underlying tissue, not free to move
What are the symptoms of metastases in bone cancer?
- bone pain
- shortness of breath
- rarely neurological symptoms
What is non-invasive breast cancer?
DCIS
What is invasive breast cancer?
infiltrative ductal carcinoma (75%), infiltrative lobular carcinoma,
Paget’s disease of the breast
What are the differentials for breast cancer?
Lung cancer
Osteosarcoma
Breast sarcoma
Brain cancer