Pneumomastia: a rare cause of breast swelling.

BACKGROUND Pneumomastia is air within the breast parenchyma. A number of causes have been reported for this condition. This case report describes a new cause and details of the management strategy applied, together with a review of the literature. CASE REPORT We describe a case of acute breast swelling in a 40-year-old woman and its subsequent successful conservative management. CONCLUSION Bronchopleural fistula after thoracotomy is a risk, and can cause pneumomastia. This is more likely to occur after redo thoracic surgery. Pneumomastia after repeat thoracotomy can be managed conservatively, even in the presence of a bronchopleural fistula.