A case of diabetic mastopathy has been identified in a hospital in China. This complication occurs when diabetes is poorly regulated.
- Diabetes is characterized by hyperglycemia, which corresponds to a high level of glucose in the blood.
- A 64-year-old Chinese patient presented with diabetic mastopathy, a breast mass, which occurs when diabetes is poorly regulated.
- Diabetic mastopathy is a rare condition, but one that is difficult to diagnose.
Diabetes is characterized by a disorder of assimilation, use and storage of sugars brought by food, according to the French Federation of Diabetics. This disease causes hyperglycemia, in other words a high level of glucose in the blood.
Diabetic mastopathy: a complication due to poorly regulated diabetes
When diabetes is untreated, various complications can occur such as blindness, foot damage, heart attacks, cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) or kidney failure. In a publication published in Journal of Medical Case Reportsresearchers have warned of another consequence of poorly regulated diabetes: diabetic mastopathy.
According to the details of the study, a 64-year-old woman presented to the hospital in Longhua, China, with a firm but mobile mass in her right breast. The patient also had type 2 diabetes. Faced with this symptom, the doctors quickly suspected breast cancer and wanted to remove the mass during a surgical operation.
Following the intervention, the practitioners carried out additional examinations, which revealed that the mass was not cancerous. They then found that it was diabetic mastopathy. “Anatomopathological examination of the mass revealed proliferation of fibroblast cells, with an increased nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio, consistent with a diagnosis of diabetic mastopathy”, can we read in the report. Three months after the operation, the mass had not reappeared.
Diabetic mastopathy, a difficult condition to diagnose
Rare and benign, diabetic mastopathy can also affect patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, the researchers said. Difficult to diagnose, this complication occurs in individuals whose diabetes is poorly controlled.
In their report, the scientists therefore recommended an intensification of research on diabetic mastopathy in order to “developing better diagnostic and treatment strategies”. According to them, care should focus on “control of diabetes and monitoring of any associated symptoms”.
