fat necrosis in breast

After going to a surgeon regarding my recent Mammograms and ultra sounds and biopsy and MRI's and following the radiologist recommendation the surgeon was not eager to do surgery.
After reviewing the reports and images he said he thought I may have fat necrosis of the tissue  and lession in the breast they are concerned about . He did another biopsy. I am awaiting the results.What I would like to know is this of any conern having dead tissue/cells ? The surgeon thought that if this is the case that it would be a result of an injury to the breast.
What I would like to know is if this is what it is then is there any real concern over it? Would they want to do surgery I have been told by many doctors that I have very dense breasts. The images show atypical tissue/lession Does anyone have any info on this that might be helpful for me?  It would be appreciated. Thank you.
Lindsaylee  

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  Fat necrosis in the breast usually results from traumatic injury (e.g. a hard bump to the breast) which causes some of the fat cells to get injured and die.  This condition usually resolves by itself and will not usually cause further complications, nor develop into cancer in the future, so you shouldn't be too concerned by it.  At most, it will simply result in some scar tissue developing in the breast.

[mamaboulet]

At least 50% of women with fat necrosis cannot remember an actual trauma to the breast. Fat necrosis is completely benign (and can be a side effect of cosmetic surgery too). It often starts out as a small smooth nodule and then evolves into a more irregular shape, often accompanied by microcalcifications. All that can look pretty scary on a mammogram if you can't recall getting injured there, but it is completely harmless. Your body processes dead cells all the time so no problem there.
I only know this because I did a bunch of research on the topic after having the bejeezus scared out of me with a BIRADS 5 mammogram that turned out to be fat necrosis. I hope your biopsy turns out the same way.

[LindsayLee]

Hi this is in reply to yours I tried to send you a private message but it would not go through if you got it let me know. I want to thank you for your comment to me. It helps to comfort me. I have been in this ordeal since June. I did not have a good doctor.l I like the surgen i went to . He decided to do the needle biopsy over again since he suspected necrosis. What you said is similiar to what i have heard. Hope you are o.k. If you know how to sednd out privately please let me know since it did not work when I tried it. thanks

[luluu4u]

Hello, I had a breast reduction surgery April 12th, 2007and a week later started losing tissue through my incisions. My surgeon told me it was fat necrosis.  Without going into gory details, I ended up having to go to the surgeon everyday to get the fluid and dead tissue scraped and cleaned out. My surgeon was great, refused to hand me off to anyone else. I ended up with several infections, and had a hard time healing. I ended up having to go through wound re-hab and having a wound vac put on to draw out the dead tissue/help with the healing.  I finally healed August 2007. Now, a year later, where there was a area reaching back to my pit almost, there is a long finger width amount of hard tissue that causes me pain.  It has gotten worse in the last 2-months. I am still not able to wear a bra everyday and really concerned. I am also gun-shy of another surgery and because of how my body reacted but would love some relief. Any recommendations? I totally appreciate it.

[mamaboulet]

Sounds like you have a bunch of scar tissue now. Hopefully that is all it is. I know that some of the women here who have had mastectomies are dealing with painful scar tissue. You might want to ask them what was recommended in their cases.
Does anybody here know if cross tissue massage helps with breast scar tissue?
It is probably in your best interest to have your doctor check you out too.

[luluu4u]

Thank you so much for that info.  I have to have a mammogram now and I am getting referred back to the surgeon.  Thanks again!