title: Primary carcinoma of ectopic breast tissue.
abstract: We describe a case of a 37-year-old woman with a left axillary mass. Often, the initial differential diagnosis of an axillary mass is not easy to make. We performed fine-needle aspiration of the axillary mass that revealed the presence of numerous epithelial neoplastic cells. A bilateral digital mammography, chest and abdomen computed tomography scan, and a magnetic resonance imaging scan (MRI) of the axillary region were performed. In our case, the MRI was able to exclude the presence of neoplastic tissue in the breast; moreover, it confirmed the presence of metastatic lymph nodes and recognized a second type of nodular lesion in the axilla, showing on the MRI a radiologic pattern similar to breast tissue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, L. Sacco Hospital, II Department of Surgery, University of Milan, Milan, Italy. fabio.corsi@unimi.it
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Corsi
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sartani
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rizzi
authors.forename: Maria Antonietta
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Nosenzo
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Foschi
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alineri
authors.forename: Emili
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Trabucchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001365:Axilla / Q000473:pathology*; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D001940:Breast; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D002828:Choristoma / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging