Is corynebacterium A factor in the etiology of granulomatous mastitis?

ABSTRACT Granulomatous mastitis (GM) is a rare, benign, chronic inflammatory disease of the breast. Its etiology has not been fully clarified and it is characterized clinically by necrotizing granulomatous lobulitis of the breast mimicking breast cancer. There is a long-term disease period before GM is diagnosed because of the fact that simple mastitis is more common in the community, and medical treatment is initiated with simple mastitis diagnosis by physicians who do not have sufficient experience. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the presence of Corynebacterium species, which are thought to play a role in the etiology, by microscopic examination of tissue samples of patients diagnosed with idiopathic granulomatous mastitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this retrospective study, the results of 201 breast tru-cut biopsy materials performed for diagnostic purposes in the Dicle University Medical Faculty Department of General Surgery between December 2018 and September 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The records of 41 patients who were diagnosed histopathologically with GM and whose contact data were available, were analyzed in detail. Preparations prepared from tissue samples of patients diagnosed with GM were examined by staining with the Gram method. The presence of Corynebacterium strains was investigated in the microscopic examination performed by adding appropriate media. RESULTS The records of 41 female patients whose histopathology result was GM were reviewed. The average age was 35.7, and the age range was 20-58. Corynebacterium amycolatum was identified as the causative microorganism as a result of the microbiological examination of the tissue sample of one patient (2.4%). CONCLUSIONS We think that Corynebacterium is not a factor in GM etiology. More studies with large case series are needed to elucidate the etiology.