Local Findings (Mastitis)

tubr_1a_n.jpg and tubr_1b_n.jpg: Overview and close-up of the right anterior chest wall in a 7.5-week-old infant. The right breast is enlarged and reddish, and in addition, it presents a yellowish discoloration at six o'clock. It is a delayed case of a mastitis of the newborn with abscess. The tape-like and red discoloration and the black traces of an ointment indicate a long-lasting local treatment. An early antibiotic treatment may prevent an abscess and also the need for its incision; in addition, there is a substantial danger of the often encountered pyogenic germs spreading, and of a dangerous multifocal osteomyelitis in the newborn, or of the destruction of the mammary gland with a later underdevelopment during puberty.