Kent
Breast and General Surgeon.....
Fibroadenomas
Fibroadenomas
are the commonest palpable lumps in young women between the ages
of 15-30 years. They are solid lumps that arise from a breast lobule
and are therefore under the same hormonal influence as the rest
of the breast. They are therefore affected by pregnancy and lactation.
They are usually firm, smooth, rubbery and mobile and sometimes
multiple. In elderly patients they can appear as calcified shadows
on mammography.
The
diagnosis of fibroadenomas is made by a combination of clinical
examination, ultrasound and fine needle aspiration cytology and/or
core biopsy. Confirmed fibroadenomas in women under the age of 40
can be safely left alone to observation or excised by choice.
About a third of fibroadenomas would reduce in size or disappear
over a 2-year period of observation while less than 10% would increase
in size. Large ones above 4 cm in size should be excised as well
as fibroadenomas in women over the age of 40.
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