title: Cholesterol granuloma of the breast mimicking carcinoma: report of a case.
abstract: Cholesterol granuloma of the breast is a rare benign condition which is often clinically and radiologically indistinguishable from breast carcinoma. We herein report the case of a 62-year-old asymptomatic woman who was found on a routine breast examination to have an elastic hard mass, measuring 0.9 cm in diameter, in the upper outer quadrant of the left breast. Physical examination and ultrasonography strongly suggested a carcinomatous lesion. A cytological examination of a fine-needle aspiration biopsy specimen was inconclusive because of the paucity of epithelial cells. A histological examination of excisional biopsy materials showed scattered cholesterol crystals arranged in irregular, parallel arrays, surrounded by histiocytes and giant cells, which were consistent with a diagnosis of cholesterol granuloma. This case report indicates the importance of performing a histological examination to establish the final diagnosis of cholesterol granuloma. We believe that a better awareness of this breast disease might help to prevent both a misdiagnosis and unnecessary surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan.
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Osada
authors.forename: Joji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kitayama
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nagawa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002784:Cholesterol; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006099:Granuloma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol