Corrective surgery for nipple depression in patients with plasmacytic mastitis - A single-center experience

Yajun Xu; Bu Da; Fengxia Zhao; Mingjuan Gao; Lihua Xue; Hao Zheng; Hongzhi Shi; Lihua Hou; Shan Miao; Xinwei Liu; Yajing Wang; Hong Xu

doi:10.3389/fmed.2023.1156628

Corrective surgery for nipple depression in patients with plasmacytic mastitis - A single-center experience

Front Med (Lausanne). 2023 Apr 6:10:1156628. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1156628. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yajun Xu^{1

2}, Bu Da², Fengxia Zhao², Mingjuan Gao², Lihua Xue², Hao Zheng², Hongzhi Shi², Lihua Hou², Shan Miao², Xinwei Liu², Yajing Wang², Hong Xu²

Affiliations

¹ Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University, School of Clinical Medicine, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, China.
² Department of General Surgery, The Third Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Background: Plasma cell mastitis (PCM) is a complex breast disease in the clinic. Currently, there are no unified diagnostic criteria for the disease and no standard treatment methods. The effects of hormone, Conventional Chinese medicine and other treatments are uncertain, with long treatment duration and notable side effects. Surgery is the preferred treatment, but the recurrence rate after conventional surgery is very high, which may be related to depression of the nipple. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a novel corrective procedure in patients with cellular mastitis and depressed nipples.

Methods: Patients with PCM who received surgical treatment in the Third Medical Center of PLA General Hospital from January 1996 to January 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the presence or absence of nipple depression before surgery, the patients were divided into the nipple depression group and the non-nipple depression group. In the nipple depression group, patients were subdivided into a novel corrective surgery group ("one" suture or half pocket suture) and a conventional corrective surgery group (oil yarn traction valgus correction of nipple depression). Demographic, clinical, therapeutic, and postoperative relapse data were collected and analyzed.

Results: Compared with the patients in the non-nipple depression group, patients in the nipple depression group had a significantly higher recurrence risk after surgery (HR = 2.129 95% CI: 1.110-4.083, p = 0.023). Patients who underwent novel corrective surgery had a significantly lower recurrence risk than those who underwent conventional corrective surgery (HR = 0.363 95% CI: 0.150-0.880, p = 0.025). In addition, the novel corrective surgery significantly reduced the postoperative recurrence risk (HR = 0.088 95% CI: 0.009-0.886, p = 0.037).

Conclusion: How to correct nipple depression is a critical factor for postoperative recurrence of PCM, and this novel corrective surgery for nipple depression can effectively reduce the postoperative recurrence rate in patients with nipple depression.

Keywords: nipple depression correction; novel surgery; plasma cell mastitis; recurrent; surgery.