Relationship of post-treatment radiological findings with relapses in idiopathic granulomatous mastitis patients

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between post-treatment radiological findings and recurrences in idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM). METHODS: Clinical data, ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations of 160 patients with IGM (mean age 34.6 +/- 7 years; range 20-56 years) who received only steroid or steroid+surgical treatment were evaluated retrospectively. Patients were grouped as radiological complete response (RCR) or radiological incomplete response (RIR). RESULTS: Only in the steroid group, 79 (54.1%) patients were in the RCR group and 67 (45.9%) patients were in the RIR group. Recurrence occurred in 42 (26.3%) patients, 27 (16.9%) in the same breast and 15 (9.4%) in the contralateral breast. Most of the recurrences in the same breast had residual lesions up to recurrence (74.1%). CONCLUSION: Residual lesion after treatment is a risk factor for recurrence, and treatment can significantly reduce recurrences until the lesions disappear. The lesion size on MRI after treatment is not associated with recurrence.