# Ductoscopy Facilitates Surgical Decision-Making in Management of Patients with Pathological Nipple Discharge

## TL;DR

Ductoscopy helps doctors decide whether surgery is needed for patients with abnormal nipple discharge by identifying specific lesions.

## Contribution

This study shows that ductoscopy improves surgical decision-making by linking specific findings to pathological nipple discharge.

## Key findings

- Ductoscopic abnormalities were strongly associated with specific lesions like intraductal papilloma.
- Cancer detection rate in surgically excised lesions was 6.7%.
- Benign ductoscopy findings allowed conservative management in some patients for up to 58 months.

## Abstract

Background/Objectives: We investigated the feasibility of ductoscopy in diagnosis and management of patients presenting with clinically pathological nipple discharge (PND). Methods: Mammary ductoscopy was performed on 57 breasts with PND in 54 patients for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Ductoscopic abnormalities included ductal irregularities, presence of erythematous patches, or presence of intraductal papillomas, whereas duct ectasia or presence of dense fluid was considered a benign finding. Results: Age older than 40 and any pathology in ultrasound or ductoscopy were significantly associated with a decision of surgery. Surgical procedures included central duct excisions (n = 16) or specific duct excisions (n = 14) guided by either ultrasound (USG) or ductoscopy. Presence of an abnormal finding on ductoscopy was significantly associated with a specific lesion yield for PND in 18 patients, such as ductal carcinoma in situ with/without papillary cancer (n = 2, 11.1%), or intraductal papilloma/papillomatosis (n = 15, 83.3%) or periductal mastitis (n = 1, 5.6%) (specific lesion for PND; ductoscopic abnormality: 83.3% (15/18) vs. ductoscopic benign findings: 16.7% (2/12); p = 0.001) in patients undergoing surgical intervention. However, pathological findings in other imaging modalities including USG, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or mammogram were not associated with specific lesion yield for PND. The cancer detection rate in surgically excised lesions (n = 30) was 6.7% (n = 2). Overall, nipple discharge ceased in three patients who were conservatively observed after benign findings on ductoscopy at a median of 58 months (IQR, 39–77). Conclusions: The use of ductoscopy facilitated surgical decision-making in patients with PND, helping to distinguish patients requiring surgical excision from those suitable for conservative follow-up. In this cohort, ductoscopy findings were frequently associated with specific lesions, including mostly intraductal papilloma, explaining nipple discharge in patients selected for surgery.