J Breast Cancer.  2006 Mar;9(1):69-72. 10.4048/jbc.2006.9.1.69.

A case of Breast Gigantism in a Patient with Wilson's Disease treated by Penicillamine

• Lee JE
• Shin HJ
• Hwang SE
• Hwang KT
• Oh SK
• Youn YK
• Noh DY
• Kim SW
• Han W

• KMID: 1976172
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4048/jbc.2006.9.1.69

Abstract

We report a case of breast gigantism in a patient with Wilson's disease treated with penicillamine. A 19-year-old female with alleged Wilson's disease visited our hospital due to diffuse enlargement of both breasts. She had been treated with penicillamine 1,000 mg/day since her age of 15 after diagnosis of Wilson's disease. At the initial presentation, there were diffuse skin thickenings in both lower inner breasts and huge lesion which replaced almost all the breast parenchyma. After gun biopsy and excision for tissue diagnosis, fibroadenoma with ductal epithelial hyperplasia was diagnosed. Although daily dose of penicillamine was lowed to 500 mg/day, her symptom progressed. After 1 year of follow up, she and her parents strongly wanted to remove her breasts because of distorted body shape and weight of breasts. The patients underwent subcutaneous mastectomy with the designed incision of the reduction mammoplasty for the future mammoplasty. Although the breast gigantism is a rare side effect of penicillamine, female patients should be followed up cautiously for the possible change of breasts. Because penicillamine is no more the first choice for Wilson's disease, it would be better to avoid using penicillamine for Wilson's disease patients especially for the young females.

Keyword

Breast Gigantism; Penicillamine; Wilson's disease

MeSH Terms

Biopsy
Breast*
Diagnosis
Female
Fibroadenoma
Follow-Up Studies
Gigantism*
Hepatolenticular Degeneration*
Humans
Hyperplasia
Mammaplasty
Mastectomy, Subcutaneous
Parents
Penicillamine*
Skin
Young Adult
Penicillamine

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