Chronic Idiopathic Granulomatous Mastitis in a Male Patient

Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis is a rare inflammatory disease of the breast, typically occurs in reproductive age women with a history of pregnancy and breastfeeding. Furthermore, it is exceedingly rare in males. As the clinical signs and symptoms with radiological imaging of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis can imitate two common breast diseases, mastitis with abscess and inflammatory breast cancer, a tissue biopsy is required for clear diagnosis. Given the rarity and unknown etiology of the disease, an ideal treatment method has not been established. Conservative treatment with immunosuppressive therapy has proven good efficacy. However, in recurrent cases and cases unresponsive to conservative or medical treatment, the surgical options, such as surgical wide excision and/or mastectomy, should be considered. In this case report, we present a male patient diagnosed with left idiopathic granulomatous mastitis. We review and discuss the clinical presentation, imaging, diagnosis, and management of this patient that eventually was treated successfully with wide local excision.