Breast tuberculosis in men: A systematic review

Spatial clustering and temporal trend analysis of international migrants diagnosed with tuberculosis in Brazil

Background

Tuberculosis (TB) in migrants is of concern to health authorities worldwide and is even more critical in Brazil, considering the country´s size and long land borders. The aim of the study was to identify critical areas in Brazil for migrants diagnosed with TB and to describe the temporal trend in this phenomenon in recent years.

Methods

This is an ecological study that used spatial analysis and time series analysis. As the study population, all cases of migrants diagnosed with TB from 2014 to 2019 were included, and Brazilian municipalities were considered as the unit of ecological analysis. The Getis-Ord Gi* technique was applied to identify critical areas, and based on the identified clusters, seasonal-trend decomposition based on loess (STL) and Prais-Winsten autoregression were used, respectively, to trace and classify temporal trend in the analyzed series. In addition, several municipal socioeconomic indicators were selected to verify the association between the identified clusters and social vulnerability.

Results

2,471 TB cases were reported in migrants. Gi* analysis showed that areas with spatial association with TB in immigrants coincide with critical areas for TB in the general population (coast of the Southeast and North regions). Four TB clusters were identified in immigrants in the states of Amazonas, Roraima, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro, with an upward trend in most of these clusters. The temporal trend in TB in immigrants was classified as increasing in Brazil (+ 60.66% per year [95% CI: 27.21–91.85]) and in the clusters in the states of Amazonas, Roraima, and Rio de Janeiro (+1.01, +2.15, and + 2.90% per year, respectively). The cluster in the state of São Paulo was the only one classified as stationary. The descriptive data on the municipalities belonging to the clusters showed evidence of the association between TB incidence and conditions of social vulnerability.

Conclusions

The study revealed the critical situation of TB among migrants in the country. Based on the findings, health authorities might focus on actions in regions identified, stablishing an intensive monitoring and following up, ensuring that these cases concluded their treatment and avoiding that they could spread the disease to the other regions or scenarios. The population of migrants are very dynamic, therefore strategies for following up them across Brazil are really urgent to manage the tuberculosis among international migrants in an efficient and proper way.

Cytological Evaluation of Pathological Male Breast Lesions

Objective

This study aimed to determine the cytodiagnostic spectrum of various male breast lesions, which were corroborated on histopathology as appropriate, to describe the process of the cytomorphology of some uncommon pathological lesions, and to discuss the reasons of their misdiagnoses.

Materials and Methods

In this 8-year study, a total of 114 patients underwent fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). In a representative case, nipple discharge from an 8-month-old child was examined. Confirmatory histopathology was obtained in 38 cases only.

Results

Gynecomastia was the most common (63.5%) male breast pathology. Invasive breast carcinoma of no special type was the most common variant of male breast malignancy. Half of the "gray zone" of cytological lesions was confirmed as cancer, but the rest were diagnosed as fibrocystic disease and intraductal papilloma. All cases with malignant cytology matched their corresponding histopathology. However, a tumor from an intraductal papillary carcinoma was miscued as ductal carcinoma on previous FNAC.

Conclusion

Cytological evaluation of male breast lesions provides highly sensitive and specific results with excellent histologic reproducibility. Thus, it should be the ideal pretherapeutic diagnostic procedure for male breasts. However, some benign pathological conditions, which are particularly associated with epithelial hyperplasia, perplex the cytomorphologic scenario into the "gray zone."

Breast Tuberculosis in Women: A Systematic Review

Breast tuberculosis (TB) is rarely reported and poorly described. This review aims to update the existing literature on risk factors, clinical presentations, constitutional symptoms, diagnostic procedures, and medical and surgical treatments for breast TB. In all, 1,478 cases of breast TB were collected. Previous history of TB was reported in 19% of cases. The most common clinical appearance of the lesion was breast lump (75%). The most common associated finding was axillary lymphadenitis (33%) followed by sinus or fistula (24%). The most common symptoms were pain and fever, reported in 42% and 28% of cases, respectively. The most used diagnostic method was fine-needle aspiration cytology (32%), followed by biopsy (27%), acid-fast bacteria Ziehl-Neelsen stain (26%), culture (13%), and polymerase chain reaction (2%). These tested positive in 64%, 93%, 27%, 26%, and 58% of cases, respectively. The majority (69%) of patients received a 6-month anti-TB treatment (isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol). Surgery consisted of excision in 39% of cases, drainage in 23%, and mastectomy in 5%. The great majority of patients had a positive outcome. It often mimics breast cancer, which makes it difficult to diagnose. Most patients, when diagnosed in time, respond to antitubercular therapy alone.

Breast tuberculosis, a rare entity

Breast tuberculosis is a rare form of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis. It is rare in western countries, usually occurs in multiparous and lactating women but rare in male and older women. It has a varied clinical, radiological and pathological presentation that can be similar to that of a breast abscess or carcinoma. Constitutional symptoms are not usually present making it even harder to diagnose clinically. Here we present a case of a young Nepalese woman with tubercular mastitis who was initially misdiagnosed as breast abscess.