Presentation
A 37-year-old female presents to her OBGYN with left breast pain. The patient complains of a new palpable lump located on the upper, outer quadrant of her left breast for 2 weeks. The lump is painful and erythematous. She denies nipple discharge and has no history of nipple piercing. She has never smoked and stopped breastfeeding 3 months ago. She has no personal history of breast cancer or family history of breast cancer.
The patient undergoes a left breast ultrasound which reveals a 4.5 cm mass at 10 o’clock, anterior depth 1.5 cm from the nipple. An ultrasound-guided biopsy was sent to surgical pathology for histologic evaluation, and a sterile aspirate was sent to the clinical microbiology laboratory for Gram stain and culture. A Gram stain revealed few gram-positive bacilli, which were consistent with coryneform bacteria. After 48 hours of incubation, a blood agar plate revealed growth of non-hemolytic, round, gray-to-white colonies measuring less than 1 mm in diameter. Species level identification was confirmed by the Bruker Biotyper MADI-TOF mass spectrometry.
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Bethany Burns, D.O., Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Resident, PGY3, Cleveland ClinicStay up to date on all ASM Clinical Public Health Microbiology (CPHM) activities when you sign up for our monthly CPHM Newsletter. Be the first to know about free educational webinars, continuing education credit opportunities, advocacy, updated guidelines and more.