Jm. Dixon et al., PERIDUCTAL MASTITIS AND DUCT ECTASIA - DIFFERENT CONDITIONS WITH DIFFERENT ETIOLOGIES, British Journal of Surgery, 83(6), 1996, pp. 820-822
A prospective study of 14225 patients has been undertaken to determine
the inter-relationship between periductal mastitis and duet ectasia a
nd to establish whether there is an association between smoking and ei
ther of these two conditions, Periductal mastitis affected women at a
younger age than did duct ectasia, Of 139 patients with the clinical s
yndrome of periductal mastitis, 97 (70 per cent) had a past history of
previous periductal mastitis, compared with only one (1 per cent) of
186 patients with the clinical syndrome of duct ectasia (P < 0.0001),
There was a significant excess of smokers in patients with clinically
(124 (89 per cent) of 139) and pathologically (71 (91 per cent) of 78)
diagnosed periductal mastitis compared with age-matched controls (bot
h P < 0.001), but there was no such excess in those with clinically (5
2 (28 per cent) of 186) or pathologically (15 (23 per cent) of 64) dia
gnosed duct ectasia, These data suggest that periductal mastitis and d
uct ectasia are separate conditions which affect different age groups,
have different aetiologies, and should now be considered as separate
entities.