A 40-year-old woman notices a tender, cord-like band extending from the lower outer quadrant of her left breast toward the epigastrium, appearing after she began a vigorous gym programme. There is no mass, and the skin over the cord is normal. What is the diagnosis?

• A Fat necrosis following trauma
• B Thrombophlebitis of the thoracoepigastric vein (Mondor's disease) ✓
• C Superficial thrombosis of the lateral thoracic vein
• D Inflammatory carcinoma of the breast

Explanation

Mondor's disease is a self-limiting superficial thrombophlebitis of the thoracoepigastric vein, typically presenting as a painful cord in the lower outer breast or chest wall after unaccustomed exercise, trauma or surgery. It resolves spontaneously within weeks and needs only analgesia. Fat necrosis produces a discrete lump rather than a cord, and inflammatory carcinoma shows diffuse erythema and oedema of the whole breast, neither of which is present here.

Reference: Bailey and Love's Short Practice of Surgery, 27th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.