A rare cause of breast mass that mimics carcinoma: Foreign body reaction to amorphous surgical material

Cotton-ball granuloma mimicking axillary lymphadenopathy in a breast cancer patient

Foreign body granuloma is a reaction to either a biodegradable substance or inert material. In a breast cancer patient who had undergone an excision or mastectomy with axillary clearance, a foreign body granuloma in the axilla may be misinterpreted as an axillary lymph node. We report our experience with a case of cotton-ball granuloma of the axilla in a breast cancer patient, which mimics a lymph node radiologically from the CT scan, mammogram and ultrasonography. Following biopsy and excision, the mass was diagnosed histologically as a foreign body granuloma.

Gauzoma mimicking siliconoma after breast augmentation surgery

Gauzoma is a rare iatrogenic mass caused by the retention of gauze fibers during surgery. This intraoperative complication represents a diagnostic problem for radiologists besides being a medicolegal problem for surgeons. We present a patient in whom a retained surgical sponge after breast augmentation surgery mimicked a siliconoma and discuss imaging appearance and differential diagnosis.