A case of primary malignant lymphoma of the breast with an unusual ultrasound image

The patient was a 50-year-old woman with a palpable tumor and pain in the right breast in May of 2008. The tumor was then diagnosed as an atheroma. The tumor enlarged rapidly in June, and the pain and the redness had worsened. The patient was then referred to our hospital. The tumor was in the upper inner quadrant of the right breast with surface redness, measuring about 3 cm. In the mammographic (MMG) findings, the tumor shadow was in the upper inner quadrant of the right breast and was observed to be circular and have a high density with a plain boundary and slightly roughed edges. In the ultrasonographic (US) findings, an oval-shaped high echoic region was found subcutaneously in the right breast. Because the high echoic area was subdivided in the partition of the low echoic string, it looked like a pebbled wall. Upon core needle biopsy, this case was diagnosed as malignant lymphoma. After comparing the histopathology and the US image, it was determined that the pebbled wall-shaped image was due to lymphocyte infiltration of the tissue. The US image was peculiar and we report this case as a peculiar example of malignant lymphoma