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Physical Breast Examination in Pregnancy and Lactation

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Diseases of the Breast during Pregnancy and Lactation

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1252))

Abstract

Physical exam of the breast is a very important part of breast assessment both for breast cancer screening, and when approaching breast lesions. Examination during pregnancy and breastfeeding follows exactly the same method as non-pregnancy periods. However, physical changes that occur in the breast during these times due to hormonal effects cause alterations that can on one hand conceal some pathologic disorders, and may on the other hand appear as pathologic findings while being purely physiologic. This chapter focuses first on some key points for an accurate breast examination, and then reviews some challenging controversial findings that may be noticed during breast exam in a pregnant or lactating woman.

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Correspondence to Sadaf Alipour .

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Alipour, S. (2020). Physical Breast Examination in Pregnancy and Lactation. In: Alipour, S., Omranipour, R. (eds) Diseases of the Breast during Pregnancy and Lactation. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1252. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41596-9_2

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