title: Bone formation within a breast abscess.
abstract: We present a rare case of osseous metaplasia in a poorly healing breast abscess. An 87-year-old woman was referred to the breast surgery clinic with a painful lump in her right breast. Initial imaging and core biopsy suggested a breast abscess. Despite several courses of antibiotics and repeated attempts at aspiration the painful lesion persisted. It was eventually surgically excised in its entirety and final histopathology showed the presence of bone formation within the abscess. The patient's symptoms subsequently resolved. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case in the literature, of osseous metaplasia within a breast abscess in the absence of malignancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, Buckinghamshire NHS Trust, UK.
authors.forename: Gurdeep Singh
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Mannu
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, Buckinghamshire NHS Trust, UK.
authors.forename: Farid
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, Buckinghamshire NHS Trust, UK.
authors.forename: Giles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cunnick
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Buckingamshire NHS Trust, UK.
authors.forename: Naren
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mungalsingh
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001940:Breast / Q000473:pathology; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008679:Metaplasia; D010012:Osteogenesis