Fertility indicators in idiopathic granulomatous mastitis; A case-control study

Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) is a rare chronic inflammatory disease of the breast tissue with unknown etiology. Due to the appearance of most cases of the disease in reproductive age and in women with a history of pregnancy and breastfeeding, the present study was performed with aim to investigate fertility indicators in IGM.

This retrospective study was conducted in 2018-2019 on 240 women, including 80 patients with idiopathic granulomatous mastitis and 160 healthy individuals, referred to the breast clinic of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences-Iran. Data related to the variables of age, BMI, number of pregnancies, duration of breastfeeding, age of first pregnancy, age of first menstrual period and history of taking contraceptive pills were collected by referring to patients' records in order to determine the relationship of each of these variables with the disease. Data analysis was done using SPSS software (version 25) and independent t-test and Fisher test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

There was a significant relationship between variables of BMI, number of pregnancies, and duration of breastfeeding in the case and control groups (p<0.05); While there was no significant relationship between variables of age, age of first pregnancy, age of first menstruation and history of taking OCP in the case and control groups (p>0.05).

The present study showed that patients with IGM had a higher BMI, more number of pregnancies, and a longer duration of breastfeeding compared to non-affected people; Age, age of first pregnancy, age of first menstruation, and history of OCP use had no significant relationship with IGM.