Turkish Journal of Pathology

Türk Patoloji Dergisi

Turkish Journal of Pathology

Turkish Journal of Pathology

2014, Vol 30, Num, 3     (Pages: 237-240)

Cytopathologic Diagnosis of Spontaneous Infarction of Fibroadenoma of the Breast

Neelam WADHWA 1, Richa JOSHI 1, Nidhi MANGAL 1, Nirupma Panikar KHAN 2, Mohit JOSHI 1

1 Department of Pathology, University College of Medical Sciences, University of DELHI, INDIA
2 Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Shahdra, DELHI, INDIA

DOI: 10.5146/tjpath.2014.01224
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Infarction is an uncommon event in a fibroadenoma, which is the commonest benign tumor of the breast. Most often it occurs in pregnancy, lactation or is secondary to fine needle aspiration. Spontaneous infarction of a fibroadenoma in the absence of a predisposing condition is very rare. The cytopathologic features of infarction are necrosis and worrisome nuclear features, which are often misinterpreted as either inflammation or malignancy. We detail a report of accurate cytopathologic diagnosis of spontaneous infarction of fibroadenoma in a 17-year-old adolescent non pregnant girl. Careful attention to the cytopathologic clues like uniform thickness of the necrotic epithelial fragments, branching pattern reminiscent of the staghorn pattern despite atypical nuclear features and clinical details like young age of the patient and recent onset pain in a pre-existing lump helped arrive at the correct diagnosis and spared the patient of a radical excision. To the best of our knowledge, there are no earlier reports of correct cytopathologic diagnosis.

Keywords : Fibroadenoma, Breast, Infarction, Fine needle biopsy, Cytology