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    Fibrocystic Breast Changes

    Fibrocystic Breast Changes is a topic covered in the 5-Minute Emergency Consult.

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    Basics

    Description

    • Generalized term for benign breast changes that are poorly defined
    • No longer considered a pathologic disease process as they are found in the majority of healthy women
    • Most common of all benign breast conditions
    • Changes include:
      • Benign cysts
      • Breast pain (mastalgia or mastodynia), which may or may not be cyclic
      • Diffuse and focal nodularity
      • Palpable fibroadenomas
      • Nipple discharge—may be green or brownish, though usually nonbloody
    • Spontaneous, persistent discharge warrants further evaluation
    • Occurs in ∼60% of women
    • Symptoms of pain and tenderness become progressively worse until menopause
    • Pain is often most prominent during the premenstrual phase and improves with the onset of menses
      • Breast pain alone is a rare symptom of cancer and accounts for only 0.2–2% of cases
    • Synonyms: Adenosis, benign breast disease, cystic mastitis, cystic disease of the breast, fibroadenosis, fibrocystic disease, mammary dysplasia.

    Etiology

    • Mechanism of development not well understood
    • Likely an enhanced or exaggerated reaction of breast tissue to cyclic levels of female reproductive hormones:
      • May be caused by imbalance of the estrogen to progesterone ratio
      • May occur secondary to increased daily prolactin production
    • Most common in women 30–50 yr old
    • Pain is most likely caused by rapid expansion of simple cysts
    • Symptoms may continue into menopause secondary to hormone replacement therapy
    • Incidence is decreased in women taking oral contraceptives
    • Risk factors include:
      • Family history of fibrocystic changes
      • Oral contraceptives
      • Hormone replacement therapy
      • Increasing age
      • Diet (high fat intake; caffeine/methylxanthines)

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    Citation

    * When formatting your citation, note that all book, journal, and database titles should be italicized* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
    TY - ELEC T1 - Fibrocystic Breast Changes ID - 307694 ED - Barkin,Adam Z, ED - Barkin,Roger M, ED - Hayden,Stephen R, ED - Rosen,Peter, ED - Schaider,Jeffrey J, ED - Shayne,Philip, ED - Wolfe,Richard E, BT - 5-Minute Emergency Consult UR - https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/5-Minute_Emergency_Consult/307694/all/Fibrocystic_Breast_Changes PB - Lippincott Williams & Wilkins ET - 5 DB - Emergency Central DP - Unbound Medicine ER -