What does mammary duct ectasia mean?

The occurrence of breast diseases has caused very serious harm to women's healthy breasts, and mammary gland enlargement is a relatively common breast disease. The harm caused by this disease to women is very great. It is difficult to cure if it is not treated in time. Therefore, once the disease occurs, it should be treated as soon as possible. So, what does enlarged breast tube mean?

What does breast tube enlargement mean?

Mammary duct ectasia is a breast disease that is not common in clinical medicine. Due to its one-sidedness, 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 the late manifestation in the development process of mammary duct ectasia. This disease is common in women aged 30 to 40 years old who are in childbearing or non-breastfeeding period, and sometimes occurs in postmenopausal elderly women.

So far, the cause of the disease is still not very clear, it may be related to autoimmunity. Patients often have inverted or deformed nipples, and the opening of the mammary duct is blocked by secretions, causing the duct to expand. The deposits irritate the wall, leading to wall destruction and inflammation of the mammary duct tissue. In the early stage of the disease, the main manifestation is nipple discharge, which is light yellow, dark brown or thick. Sometimes, a thick substance may be secreted after squeezing the breast. In the later stage, lumps of varying sizes may appear on the nipple and around the nipple. The surface of the lumps is red, itchy and painful. Sometimes, the lumps are difficult to heal after being cut open, and fistulas may occur.

As the disease recurs, the breast skin may become thicker and the nipple may become inverted. The disease has a long history, up to more than ten years, and antibiotic treatment is generally ineffective. Mammary duct ectasia is easy to be misdiagnosed before surgery. The diagnosis of this disease mainly depends on breast B-ultrasound, breast mammography, breast tube angiography, breast fine needle aspiration and other examinations. Once mammary duct ectasia is diagnosed, surgical treatment should be adopted promptly according to the different characteristics of the symptoms.

For partial lesions, breast lobectomy can be performed; for extensive lesions, subcutaneous mastectomy can be performed to preserve the patient's nipple and some normal glandular ducts. For those with lumps and cysts, while undergoing anti-infection treatment, the drainage method should be cut in time, and the diseased tissue should be removed after the infection is improved.