A RARE CASE OF TUBERCULOSIS OF BREAST – A CASE REPORT

INTRODUCTION Tuberculosis is the most widespread and persistent human infection in the world. The infection can involve any organ and mimic other illness, hence it is called the great mimicker. Tuberculous mastitis (TM) is a rare extrapulmonary presentation of tuberculosis accounting for less than 1% of all diseases of the breast in the industrialized world. Incidence of this disease is higher in countries endemic for tuberculosis, like the Indian subcontinent, where it may be as high as 4%. In the Arabian Gulf, the frequency of the disease is reported to be between 0.4% and 0.5% (Khandelwal and Jain, 2013) Sir Astley Cooper reported the first case of tuberculous mastitis in 1829 and called it ‘scrofulous swelling of the bosom.’ TM may be part of a systemic disease or may be the only manifestation of tuberculosis. It occurs far more frequently in women, especially in their reproductive age, and is uncommon in prepubescent and elderly women. This parallels the highest incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis. This could be because the female breast undergoes frequent changes during the period of childbearing activity and is more susceptible to trauma and infection (Arghya et al., 2013).