Fat necrosis
Fat necrosis | |
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Other names | also known as Balser's necrosis |
Micrograph of breast tissue showing fat necrosis. H&E stain | |
Specialty | Pathology |
Fat necrosis is
The gross appearance of fat necrosis is as an irregular, chalky white area within otherwise normal adipose tissue.[1]
Pathophysiology
Trauma
Traumatic injury of adipose tissue liberates stored fat
Traumatic fat necrosis commonly affects the breast and may resemble a tumour (especially in case of calcification of the necrotic mass).[1]
Enzymatic digestion
Pancreatic conditions like acute pancreatitis,[3] pancreatic carcinoma, and pancreatic trauma[5] result in liberation of pancreatic lipase which proceeds to digest fat to form free fatty acids which subsequently combine with calcium to form soapy precipitates.[3][2]
Although the peripancreatic region is the most commonly affected (due to direct contact with enzymes), associated fat necrosis may occur throughout the body in subcutaneous tissue, hand and foot joints, and bone marrow. These extrapancreatic complications are known as pancreatic panniculitis.[5]
Clinical significance
Breast fat necrosis
Causes
Examples of causes include but are not limited to:[citation needed]
- Breast trauma (e.g. seat belt injury from a car accident)
- Breast surgery
- Pancreatic disease
- Some forms of panniculitis
- Polyarteritis nodosa[6][7]
Epidemiology
Fat necrosis in the breast occurs around 0.6%, this represents 2.75% of lesions that end up being benign. However, 0.8% of fat necrosis occurs from tumors of the breast, 1–9% occurs in breast reduction surgery. Individuals that are high risk include women around the age of 50yrs along with pendulous breasts.[8]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4511-8390-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4557-2613-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7020-4672-8.
- ^ "https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/fat-necrosis". www.cancer.gov. 2011-02-02. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
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- ^ PMID 432796.
- PMID 25861475.
- PMID 31194348, retrieved 2020-11-12
- ISSN 1871-5192.