Mondor's Disease: A Rare Cause of Chest Pain

Mondor's disease is an uncommon cause of breast and chest pain. It is characterized by cord-like thickening of the superficial veins of the anterior chest wall mimicking many life-threatening illnesses such as pulmonary thromboembolism and myocardial infarction. The disease may have been caused...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2022-02, Vol.14 (2), p.e22320
Main Authors: Pipal, Dharmendra K, Pipal, Vibha Rani
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anti-inflammatory agents
Anticoagulants
Breast cancer
Case reports
Disease
General Surgery
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
Obstetrics/Gynecology
Pain
Penis
Thrombosis
Veins & arteries
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Summary:Mondor's disease is an uncommon cause of breast and chest pain. It is characterized by cord-like thickening of the superficial veins of the anterior chest wall mimicking many life-threatening illnesses such as pulmonary thromboembolism and myocardial infarction. The disease may have been caused by trauma, other hypercoagulable states, or underlying breast diseases such as infection or carcinoma breast, but, in most cases, its etiology remains unknown. Mondor's disease is usually self-limited and can be managed conservatively. Although a rare and benign diagnosis, Mondor's disease should be a part of the differentials of chest pain, and its diagnosis can be made on the basis of a thorough clinical examination alone, which reduces not only costs but also the risks of further testing for patients presenting with chest pain. We highlight the case of a 40-year-old premenopausal female patient who presented to the outpatient department with stretching aching chest pain on the left side, which got aggravated on movements of the arm and relieved on rest. Mondor's disease is not considered a differential diagnosis for chest pain due to a lack of awareness about it. Creating awareness of this condition through this case report would help to reduce unnecessary investigations and valuable time spent and would help identify a serious underlying cause, especially early stage carcinoma of the breast.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.22320