Breast
Inflammatory / infectious
Foreign body reaction
Author: Hind Warzecha, M.D.
Last author update: 1 April 2010
Last staff update: 9 May 2022
Copyright: 2002-2025, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Breast foreign body reaction
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Terminology | Clinical features | Case reports | Gross description | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) images | VideosCite this page: Warzecha H. Foreign body reaction. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/breastforeignbodyreaction.html. Accessed January 15th, 2025.
Definition / general
- Foreign body giant cell inflammation that usually is localized and occurs 1 - 2 weeks after trauma, surgery or radiation
Terminology
- See also fat necrosis, silicone breast implants
- Also called biopsy site changes
Clinical features
- Clinically resembles carcinoma due to skin retraction
Case reports
Due to injections:
- Carbon for biopsy tracking (Clin Radiol 1998;53:845)
- Gear oil (Indian J Pathol Microbiol 2007;50:373)
- Hydrophilic polyacrylamide gel (Hong Kong Med J 2007;13:137)
- Paraffin (Breast 2006;15:540)
- Petroleum jelly (South Med J 2008;101:422)
Gross description
- Localized to subcutaneous tissue
- May be nodular, fibrotic, orange brown (due to hemosiderin)
- Up to 1 cm
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Not encapsulated
- Fibrosis, foreign body giant cells, chronic inflammatory cells, fat necrosis, calcification, cholesterol clefts (needle-like empty spaces, due to substances dissolved during processing), hemosiderin
- May see a foreign body
Microscopic (histologic) images
Contributed by Dr. Saroona Haroon, The Aga Khan University Hospital (Pakistan)
Cholesterol granuloma in 56 year old woman with 4 month history of hard immobile mass of left breast; no history of pus or blood discharge
Images hosted on other servers:
Asteroid body
Granulation tissue
Videos
Foreign body reaction
