Description
In 1892 Waters reported a chronic discharging sinus after drainage of a breast abscess. However, the pathological features of a mammary duct fistula were not fully described until 1950. The pathophysiology of mammary duct ectasia (MDE)/periductal mastitis (PDM) and its complications (abscesses, fistulation, nipple distortion) are still not fully understood. Duct ectasia, squamous metaplasia, periductal inflammation, chronic infection, hyperprolactinaemia and cigarettes have all been
Amongst women MDE / PDM is a common finding. Eleven percent of women at autopsy have evidence of the condition and non-puerperal sepsis associated with duct ectasia now exceeds the incidence of puerperal abscess formation. This condition is rare in men and little reported in the literature. We present a case of periductal mastitis with fistulization in a 52 year old man.
