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Granulomatous mastitis, watch and wait is a good option

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Abstract

Background

Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) is a benign and rare chronic inflammatory disease of the breast with unknown etiology. While there is no consensus regarding its post-diagnosis management, there are different treatment alternatives.

Aims

In this study, it was aimed to question the effectiveness of follow-up strategy without administering any treatment.

Methods

One hundred eighteen female patients diagnosed with IGM were retrospectively evaluated. Patients with histopathologically confirmed IGM were included in the study. Medical treatment was given only to patients who did not accept the follow-up option without treatment. The protocol used in steroid therapy was 16 mg prednisolone twice daily for 2 weeks, and then the dose was gradually reduced, and the treatment was stopped after 2 months. Patients were followed up with a physical examination every 3 months. The effectiveness of the systemic corticosteroid treatment and the follow-up approach without any treatment was compared. The recurrence rates and pre-treatment and post-treatment methods of the patients were examined.

Results

While 30.5% of the patients recovered with corticosteroid treatment, 42.4% recovered under observation without any treatment. The mean recovery period of the patients in these two groups was calculated as 3.9 months and 5.6 months, respectively. However, no statistically significant difference was found in terms of recovery period (p = 0.064). The recurrence rate was 11.9%.

Conclusion

For IGM, the “watch and wait” approach is an effective option. A chance should be given to the self-limiting nature of the disease with the addition of drainage when necessary.

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Data availability

The data may be made available upon reasonable request to the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey

    Gökay Çetinkaya, Ramazan Kozan, Ahmet Cihangir Emral & Ekmel Tezel

Authors
  1. Gökay Çetinkaya
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  2. Ramazan Kozan
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  3. Ahmet Cihangir Emral
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  4. Ekmel Tezel
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Contributions

GC, RK, ACE, and ET were involved in the planning and design of this research. GC and ACE collected the data. GC, ACE, and ET conducted the statistical analysis. GC wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and RK edited. GC, RK, ACE, and ET read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ramazan Kozan.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by The Local Ethical Committee of Gazi University School of Medicine (Reference number: 28.05.2018–453).

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Çetinkaya, G., Kozan, R., Emral, A.C. et al. Granulomatous mastitis, watch and wait is a good option. Ir J Med Sci 190, 1117–1122 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-020-02406-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-020-02406-0

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