INTRODUCTION
In 1829, the earliest breast tuberculosis (BT) case was reported by Sir Astley Cooper and mentioned as “scrofulous swelling of the bosom”.1 BT is a rare and uncommon presentation of tuberculosis2 with an 0.1% overall incidence in breast lesions in developed and 4% in surgically treated lesions in developing countries.3,4 BT is excluded and at times over-diagnosed as breast cancer or abscess.5,6 BT is recognized substantially in women of reproductive age, lactating, multiparous, and sometimes also seen in men (4.5% of cases)4,7; it coexists with immunodeficiency states like HIV.8 Primary BT is very rare9and secondary BT arises due to hematogenous, retrograde (axillary lymph nodes), or direct spread (lung, pleura, mediastinum, and articular lesions).10 In this study, we describe a case of an immunocompetent patient with no evidence of any other tubercular foci in the body.
The objective of this report was to emphasize the significance of fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) as the primary diagnostic method of choice in the diagnosis of BT and the avoidance of different invasive diagnostic methods.