INTRODUCTION
In 1829, the earliest breast tuberculosis (BT) case was reported by Sir
Astley Cooper and mentioned as “scrofulous swelling of the
bosom”.1 BT is a rare and uncommon presentation of
tuberculosis2 with an 0.1% overall incidence in
breast lesions in developed and 4% in surgically treated lesions in
developing countries.3,4 BT is excluded and at times
over-diagnosed as breast cancer or abscess.5,6 BT is
recognized substantially in women of reproductive age, lactating,
multiparous, and sometimes also seen in men (4.5% of
cases)4,7; it coexists with immunodeficiency states
like HIV.8 Primary BT is very rare9and secondary BT arises due to hematogenous, retrograde (axillary lymph
nodes), or direct spread (lung, pleura, mediastinum, and articular
lesions).10 In this study, we describe a case of an
immunocompetent patient with no evidence of any other tubercular foci in
the body.
The objective of this report was to emphasize the significance of
fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) as the primary diagnostic method
of choice in the diagnosis of BT and the avoidance of different invasive
diagnostic methods.