Clinical, mammographic, and ultrasonographic characteristics of diabetic mastopathy: A case series

Purpose: Diabetic mastopathy (DMP) is a rare benign breast lesion that mimics breast cancer on ultrasound. Our aims were to identify patient characteristics and imaging features of the disease. Methods: We conducted retrospective searches of our database for DMP lesions that were pathologically confirmed between January 2004 and November 2015. Mammographic and ultrasound features were reviewed by two experienced radiologists. Results: Twelve women were identified with 16 lesions. Most patients (83%) had type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and over half were insulin-dependent (58.3%), with a mean time of 16.9 years between the diagnosis of DM and that of DMP. There were negative findings on mammography for 46.7% of the lesions, including larger-sized lesions. Ultrasound revealed vario us features, including irregular shape (81.3%), indistinct margins (100%), parallel orientation to the chest wall (93.8%), marked hypoechogenicity (87.5%), and posterior shadowing (62.5%). Conclusions: DMP was more common in patients with longstanding DM; in particular, type 2 DM and insulin dependent patients. DMP lesions were usually occult on mammography, despite the relatively large size of DMP, which may help distinguish DMP from invasive cancer. Ultrasound detected several features that are also present in invasive cancer, making tissue sampling necessary to distinguish these.