THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MAMMARY SKIN THICKENING IN DISORDERS OTHER THAN PRIMARY CARCINOMA: A ROENTGENOLOGIC-PATHOLOGIC CORRELATION

Mammary skin thickening does not necessarily imply the presence of an underlying carcinoma. We have reviewed the roentgenographic and pathologic manifestations of skin thickening that resulted from 5 conditions other than primary carcinoma. These are breast abscess, fat necrosis, reticulum cell sarcoma, subcutaneous extravasation of pleural fluid after thoracentesis, and lymphatic extension from contralateral breast carcinoma.

The roentgenographic appearance of skin thickening was identical in each of these disorders, and provided no clue to its benign or malignant origin. Similarly, except for metastatic carcinoma that infiltrates the mammary skin and plugs the dermal lymphatic channels, the dermal pathologic manifestations in these disorders were nonspecific.

The single dermal pathologic feature common to all these conditions, benign and malignant, was a nonspecific, chronic inflammatory response. This response usually took the form of a perivascular, mononuclear cellular infiltration.

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