Causes of breast duct dilatation during lactation

Many women will experience breast duct dilatation during lactation, which makes them feel very uncomfortable. This is a benign disease of the female breast. However, if this disease is not treated in time, it will cause great harm to our body, especially for women who are breastfeeding. We should pay more attention to it. Let's take a look at the causes of breast duct dilatation during lactation.

Duct ectasia is a benign breast disease that is not uncommon in clinical practice. However, due to lack of understanding, it is often misdiagnosed as mastitis, breast tuberculosis, or breast cancer.

Mammary duct ectasia is also known as plasma cell mastitis. In fact, plasma cell mastitis is only a late manifestation in the development of mammary duct ectasia. This disease is more common in women aged 30 to 40 who are in the childbearing and non-lactating period, and sometimes occurs in elderly women after menopause.

The main cause of mammary duct ectasia is the poor structure of the milk duct at the end under the areola, which causes the accumulation of fat secretions in the milk duct and dilation of the duct. At this time, the only clinical symptoms are nipple discharge or small nodules in the nipple.

If the disease progresses further, the aggregates in the duct will stimulate the duct wall, causing inflammatory infiltration and fibrosis of the duct wall, resulting in a high degree of expansion of the duct. At the same time, the accumulation seeps out of the duct, stimulating local aseptic inflammation of the breast tissue. Under the microscope, a large number of plasma cell infiltrations can be seen, forming the so-called plasma cell mastitis.

It may also be related to autoimmunity. Patients often have inverted or deformed nipples, and the openings of the mammary ducts are blocked by secretions, causing the ducts to dilate. The deposits stimulate the duct walls, causing damage to the duct walls and inflammation of the mammary gland tissue.

In the above article, we have a certain understanding of the causes of mammary duct dilatation during lactation. Female friends should pay special attention to their breasts during lactation. If there is any abnormality or any discomfort in the body, they should go to the hospital for examination in time. For their own health, they cannot ignore the existence of this disease.