Leprosy-an unusual cause of a suspicious nodule on mammography

Christine Flis; Colan M Ho-Yen; Alexander Polson; Ula Mahadeva; Stephen L Walker

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2021.08.068

Leprosy-an unusual cause of a suspicious nodule on mammography

Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Oct:111:360-362. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.08.068. Epub 2021 Sep 4.

Authors

Christine Flis¹, Colan M Ho-Yen², Alexander Polson³, Ula Mahadeva⁴, Stephen L Walker⁵

Affiliations

¹ South West London Breast Screening Service, St George's Healthcare NHS Trust, Tooting, London, UK. Electronic address: cflis@nhs.net.
² Department of Cellular Pathology, St George's Healthcare NHS Trust, Tooting, London, UK. Electronic address: Colan.HoYen@stgeorges.nhs.uk.
³ Department of Histopathology, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. Electronic address: alexander.polson@gstt.nhs.uk.
⁴ Department of Histopathology, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. Electronic address: ula.mahadeva@gstt.nhs.uk.
⁵ Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Department of Dermatology, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK. Electronic address: Steve.walker@LSHTM.ac.uk.

PMID: 34492393
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.08.068

Abstract

A routine mammogram identified changes thought to be due to a lymph node, which was confirmed on biopsy. The lymph node was infiltrated with macrophages and showed fragmented acid-fast bacilli. The patient had been treated for leprosy some years before and was still taking thalidomide for erythema nodosum leprosum. Leprosy-associated lymphadenopathy may be identified on routine breast screening.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Biopsy
Erythema Nodosum* / diagnosis
Erythema Nodosum* / drug therapy
Humans
Leprosy*
Leprosy, Multibacillary*
Mammography