spontaneous infarction of fibroadenoma of the breast in a young girl mimicking carcinoma

background: spontaneous infarction is an uncommon complication of fibroadenoma of the breast. although infarction following fine needle aspiration (fna) has been reported in the literature, infarction encountering on first time aspiration is very rare. lack of knowledge of this entity may lead to an erroneous diagnosis of inflammatory lesion like mastitis and carcinoma on cytology smears. case: we report the cytological and histological findings in partial spontaneous infarction of fibroadenoma in an 18-year-old female and literature reviewed. conclusion: in young patients with breast lumps, if the aspirated material is necrotic, the probable diagnosis of spontaneous infarction should always be kept in mind. viable fibroadenomatous tissue should be searched for in the fna smears.