Tuberculosis (TB) of the breast remains a rare entity that commonly leads to disseminated cold abscesses and the spread of infection, especially in endemic regions like India. Its presentation, a firm nodule, with or without pain leading to ulceration and discharge, mimics various mammary pathologies, including malignancy, mycotic abscesses and granulomatous mastitis, and is, therefore, easily misdiagnosed. We present a case of primary TB of the breast with an abdominal cold abscess in a patient who complained of ulceration in the left breast, having a previous four-year history of a breast lump. Purulent discharge from the ulceration and abscess was positive for TB in a Cartridge-Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test. She was also incidentally found to have a cold abscess in the superficial fascia in the left iliac fossa. The patient was treated with antitubercular drugs under the National TB Elimination Program. She is currently in her fourth month of treatment and has experienced a resolution of symptoms.
Shrestha A, Gautam K, Pyakurel D, Pradhan S, Pant V. Breast tuberculosis, a rare entity. IDCases 2019;15:e00530.
Wani I, Lone AM, Malik R, Wani KA, Wani RA, Hussain I, et al. Secondary tuberculosis of breast: Case report. ISRN Surg 2011;2011:529368.
Marinopoulos S, Lourantou D, Gatzionis T, Dimitrakakis C, Papaspyrou I, Antsaklis A. Breast tuberculosis: Diagnosis, management and treatment. Int J Surg Case Rep 2012;3:548-50.
da Silva BB, Lopes-Costa PV, Pires CG, Pereira-Filho JD, dos Santos AR. Tuberculosis of the breast: Analysis of 20 cases and a literature review. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2009;103:559-63.
Thimmappa D, Mallikarjuna MN, Vijayakumar A. Breast tuberculosis. Indian J Surg 2015;77:1378-84.
Pluguez-Turull CW, Nanyes JE, Quintero CJ, Alizai H, Mais DD, Kist KA, et al. Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis: Manifestations at multimodality imaging and pitfalls. Radiographics 2018;38:330-56.
Verma R, Khanna P, Mehta B. Revised national tuberculosis control program in India: The need to strengthen. Int J Prev Med 2013;4:1-5.
Baharoon S. Tuberculosis of the breast. Ann Thorac Med 2008;3:110-4.
Bilateral Tubercular Mastitis: Lung India. Available from: https://journals.lww.com/lungindia/Fulltext/2007/24030/BILATERAL_TUBERCULAR_MASTITIS.5.aspx. [Last accessed on 2022 Sep 11].
Bouziyane A, Benaguida H, Lamsisi M, Khoaja A, Benayad S, Ennachit M, et al. Tuberculosis of the breast: Analysis of 17 cases. Pan Afr Med J 2020;37:282.
Baykan AH, Sayiner HS, Inan I, Aydin E, Erturk SM. Primary breast tuberculosis: Imaging findings of a rare disease. Insights Imaging 2021;12:19.
Harris SH, Khan MA, Khan R, Haque F, Syed A, Ansari MM. Mammary tuberculosis: Analysis of thirty-eight patients. ANZ J Surg 2006;76:234-7.
Prakash Giri O. Primary multidrug-resistant tuberculosis of the breast – A rare presentation. Ann Med Sci 2017;7:70-2.