Paget's Disease of the Breast: A Tertiary Hospital Experience
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Background: Paget’s disease of the breast is rare. It is one of the foremost subtypes of carcinoma of the breast, Ä‚ccŽƵnÆŸnÅ for only 1-3% of all breast tumors. It is ŽŌĞn misdiagnosed because of its unusual ƉƌĞÆÄžnƚĂƟŽn and absence of a breast lump in nearly half of the ƉĂƟĞnÆšÆ͘ This study aims at ĞǀĂůƵĂƟnÅ the epidemiology and outcome of surgical treatment of Paget’s disease of the breast in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Methods: This is a ƌĞƚƌŽÆƉĞcƟǀĞ study of cases of Paget’s disease of the breast seen and managed in the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria over a 20 year period. The ƉĂƟĞnÆšÆ were analyzed for age, sex, clinical ƉƌĞÆÄžnƚĂƟŽn and treatment given. Results: A total of 24 ƉĂƟĞnÆšÆ out of 2,105 cases of carcinoma of the breast were seen to have Paget’ s disease. All were females aged 30 to 55 years and all had unilateral disease. Only 10% of the ƉĂƟĞnÆšÆ had a palpable mass on the breast. All the ƉĂƟĞnÆšÆ had biopsies either of the skin or both skin and breast lump. Conclusion: Paget’s disease of the breast is uncommon and easily misdiagnosed. This calls for wedge ƌĞÆÄžcƟŽn and/or histology of any mass seen for any ƉĂƟĞnÆš ƉƌĞÆÄžnÆŸnÅ with eczematous lesions on the nipples.