J Korean Soc Radiol.  2016 Mar;74(3):156-159. 10.3348/jksr.2016.74.3.156.

A Pilomatricoma Misdiagnosed as Male Breast Cancer

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Radiology, VHS Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. jinnyhs@hanmail.net
  • 2Department of Pathology, VHS Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
  • 3Department of Radiology, Research Institute of Radiological Science, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Pilomatricoma is a benign tumor of subcutaneous tissue that arises from hair follicle matrix cells and is usually asymptomatic. Several clinical reports of pilomatricoma have been published in Korean radiology, dermatology, and pathology literature. However, to the best of our knowledge, there have been no Korean case reports of pilomatricoma mimicking male breast cancer. We report a case of pilomatricoma presenting as an exophytic palpable mass in the left breast of an adult male.


MeSH Terms

Adult
Breast
Breast Neoplasms, Male*
Dermatology
Hair Follicle
Humans
Male
Male*
Mammography
Pathology
Pilomatrixoma*
Subcutaneous Tissue
Ultrasonography

Figure

  • Fig. 1 A 69-year-old man with an exophytic, erythematous, firm mass with superficial ulceration in the left breast. Mammography shows a high-density mass with dystrophic calcifications and coarse heterogeneous calcifications in the upper inner quadrant of the left breast, measuring 4.7 × 4.6 cm. Diffuse skin thickening is also present.

  • Fig. 2 Ultrasonographic transverse image of the left breast shows an indistinct, irregular, exophytic hyperechoic mass in the skin and subcutaneous layers.

  • Fig. 3 Ultrasound transverse scans of the same patient shows irregular hyperechoic mass with associated calcification resulting in posterior acoustic shadowing.

  • Fig. 4 Microscopic examination (hematoxylin-eosin, 100 × magnification) shows a proliferation of basophilic cells (arrow) and ghost cells (arrowhead).


Reference

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