Surgical treatment of granulomatous mastitis associated with autoimmune response: Report of a case

Abstract

Granulomatous mastitis (GM) is a rare breast disease with unknown etiology. Clinical management strategies for GM include surgery, antibiotics, and steroid treatments. As patients with GM often respond to steroids, GM is thought to be an autoimmune disease. Here we describe a case of trauma?induced GM that presented as autoimmune disease but was successfully treated by surgery without steroids. The patient showed no sign of recurrence for 11 months. This case provides useful information on both the underlying mechanisms and clinical management of GM.

Key words: Antibiotics, autoimmune disease, granulomatous mastitis, inflammation, recurrence, surgery, surgical treatment, steroid, trauma