Mondor's disease of the breast: A cutaneous thromboembolic
manifestation of Covid-19?
by Lorna Renshaw, J
Michael Dixon, Julia Anderson, Arran K. Turnbull
The Breast: VOLUME 66, P305-309, DECEMBER
01, 2022
Background
Mondor's disease is
a rare disorder characterised by thrombosis of superficial veins within the
subcutaneous tissue of the breast and other organs. While factors such as
trauma, infection, physical exertion, breast cancer and breast surgery have
been implicated, in the majority no cause is identified.
Patients
Twenty patients
presented with a clinical diagnosis of Mondor's disease to the Edinburgh Breast
Services in 2020. We present the etiopathogenic data as well as clinical and
imaging diagnostic findings.
Results
During 2020, the
annual incidence of Mondor's disease, in the UK's largest breast unit,
increased five-fold compared to data from the previous year. This variation in
the frequency of cases corresponded to trends in the frequency of Covid-19
infection during the pandemic. None of the patients had diagnosed COVID and few
had any known etiopathogenic causes for their Mondor's.
Conclusion
Several recent
studies have provided evidence for links between Covid-19 and thromboembolic
events. Isolated reports have proposed a link between Covid-19 and Mondor's
disease of the penis. Here we present data on a large series of Mondor's
disease of the breast supporting a link between breast Mondor's and Covid-19.
