Published online Dec 16, 2014. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v2.i12.852
Revised: July 7, 2014
Accepted: October 1, 2014
Published online: December 16, 2014
Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis is a rare chronic inflammatory lesion of the breast that can clinically and radiographically mimic breast carcinoma. The most common clinical presentation is an unilateral, discrete breast mass, nipple retraction and even a sinus formation often associated with an inflammation of the overlying skin. The etiology of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis is still obscure. Its treatment remains controversial. The cause may be the autoimmune process, infection, a chemical reaction associated with oral contraceptive pills, or even lactation. Various factors, including hormonal imbalance, autoimmunity, unknown microbiological agents, smoking and α 1-antitrypsin deficiency have been suggested to play a role in disease aetiology. In this review, causing factors in the aetiology of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis are reviewed in detail.
Core tip: Aetiology of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis has not been fully elucidated. In this article, possible aetiologic factors mentioned in the literature are discussed in detail. Additionally, ethnicity factor which is briefly mentioned previously in the literature are detailed.