‘Location, location, location’ -the importance of location in the assessment of mastalgia in the general female population

摘要

Mastalgia accounts for a large proportion of referrals to symptomatic breast clinics on a daily basis, despite this, few data exist on the topographical distribution of mastalgia and its correlation with an underlying disease process. In this study, cyclical pain located in the upper outer quadrant was always benign. Pain following an alternative distribution, or temporal pattern, should therefore alert the physician to the presence of an underlying pathology. Given the prevalence of mastalgia in general, these findings should aid in the screening for patients at increased risk of harboring a significant abnormality.