Dye-Injection Microdochectomy for Intraductal Papilloma of the Breast

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Intraductal papillary tumors of the breast exhibit bloody discharge, often with no evidence of a palpable tumor, making discrimination between benign and malignant lesions sometimes difficult for pathologists and surgeons. Thus the technique used in removing the offending ductal system should be fully diagnostic, adequately therapeutic and cosmetically. Microdochectomy has been the accepted treatment for intraductal papillomas of the breast. METHODS: We performed dye-injection microdochectomy on intraductal papillomas of the breast in 15 patients. This procedure utilize a lacrimal probe and 24-gauge medicut that were gently advanced into the offending duct, and methylene blue dye was injected to outline the involved duct for easy dissection through a circumareolar incision. Also a visual check was made as the duct filled with eye. With careful dissection as far as the base of the nipple and good hemostasis, the suspicious duct was easily isolated and then dissected along its entire length and removed with a small cone of the breast tissue surrounding the duct. RESULTS: The peak incidence was in the 3rd and the 4th decades (67%). Among the 15 patients operated on for an intraductal papilloma, 7 (47%) had bloody discharge, 2 (13%) were serous, 2 (13%) were yellowish and 4 (26.7%) had both bloody dischrage and mass. Microdochectomy was performed under general anesthesia in 12 (80%). There were single papillomas in 9 (60%) and multiple papillomas in 6 (40%). Postoperative complication was seroma in the wound in 1case (7%). CONCLUSIONS: Because we could perform dye-injection microdochectomy safely, rapidly, and effectively, we think that this procedure should be a standard treatment for intraductal papilloma of the breast.