Hyderabad: Diagnosis of breast tuberculosis in men is very tough and often goes undiagnosed, stated experts who carried out a review of 26 patients who were identified and their symptoms studied and published in PLOS one, the scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science (PLOS) since 2006. The clinical symptoms of tuberculosis were only in the form of breast lumps and inflammation of the skin in patients above 56 years of age. The diagnosis requires culture of the lump tissues and this is rarely done as it is not suspected often in men.
Dr B.S. Raju, senior chest physician explained, “These are very rare cases and often the disease is not understood. There are very few cases which have been cited in medical journals. But that does not mean that they do not exist or will not affect people. It is only that the diagnosis is a challenge as the symptoms take time to manifest. The treatment is the same as that of TB.”
Experts state that medicines are the first line of treatment and only if the lump required draining out of the fluid, is it carried out surgically. But with limited data in India too, experts state that they have to specifically look at cases where men complained of pain in the breast area or had severe inflammation of the skin in the upper body.
