Intraductal papillomas of the breast

Breast

The breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues...

 are relatively common lesion

Lesion

A lesion is any abnormality in the tissue of an organism , usually caused by disease or trauma. Lesion is derived from the Latin word laesio which means injury.- Types :...

s with an incidence of approximately 2-3% in humans.

They are the most common cause of bloody nipple discharge

Nipple discharge

Nipple discharge is the release of fluid from the nipples of the breasts. Although it is considered normal in a wide variety of circumstances it is the third major reason involving the breasts for which women seek medical attention, after breast lumps and breast pain. It is also known to occur in...

 in women age 20-40 and generally do not show up on mammography

Mammography

Mammography is the process of using low-energy-X-rays to examine the human breast and is used as a diagnostic and a screening tool....

 due to their small size, so the next step in treatment would be a galactogram to guide the subsequent biopsy.

The masses are often too small to be palapated or felt. A galactogram is therefore necessary to rule out the lesion.

Excision is sometimes performed.