title: Paget's disease of the nipple diagnosed by MRI.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Paget's disease of the breast is a rare manifestation of breast carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patient presented with a red lesion of the left nipple-areola complex. Breast physical examination, ultrasonography and mammography were normal bilaterally. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) correctly depicted Paget's disease of the nipple. Before surgery the patient underwent biopsy of the lesion that showed Paget's disease of the breast associated with an underlying ductal carcinoma in situ. The patient underwent left mastectomy and unilateral axillary lymph node dissection. The patient refused the breast-conserving surgery because she was afraid that she could have a recurrence of the carcinoma. Microscopy of the lesion confirmed the MRI diagnosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MRI was very useful and accurate to diagnose Paget's disease of the breast without palpable mass, ultrasonographic and mammographic findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 12, Sassari 07100, Italy. capobsass@tiscali.it
authors.forename: Giampiero
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Capobianco
authors.forename: Bernardino
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Spaliviero
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dessole
authors.forename: Pier Luigi
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Cherchi
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Marras
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ambrosini
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Meloni
authors.forename: Giovanni Battista
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Meloni
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D009558:Nipples / Q000473:pathology*; D010144:Paget's Disease, Mammary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D011859:Radiography