PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lena Gowharji
AU  - Dana Smetherman
AU  - Brett Roberts
TI  - Body Art Confounding a Case of Breast Cancer
DP  - 2017 Dec 21
TA  - Ochsner Journal
PG  - 430--433
VI  - 17
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.ochsnerjournal.org/content/17/4/430.short
4100  - http://www.ochsnerjournal.org/content/17/4/430.full
SO  - Ochsner J2017 Dec 21; 17
AB  - Background: Heavy metals in tattoo ink can be deposited in axillary lymph nodes, mimicking malignant calcifications. High-density foci in axillary lymph nodes can be the sequelae of a benign or malignant process.Case Report: A 34-year-old female presented with left breast discomfort. Mammography showed suspicious left breast calcifications for which biopsy revealed multicentric ductal carcinoma in situ. Imaging also showed high-density foci in her left axillary lymph nodes suspicious for nodal metastases; however, biopsy of the lymph nodes found the high-density foci to be pigment-laden histiocytes from tattoo ink metallic deposits.Conclusion: High-density foci in axillary lymph nodes on mammography can be evidence of calcifications or metal deposits and can be the manifestation of a benign or malignant process. Thus, this finding may warrant additional diagnostic workup (including mammography, ultrasound, and possibly biopsy) and correlation with clinical history.