Mondor's Disease

Abstract

Superficial thrombophlebitis of the chest wall and breast was described as a clinical entity almost 100 years ago.¹Subsequently sporadic reports appeared in the medical literature until 1939, when Henri Mondor presented in the French literature four cases.²These he clearly demonstrated both clinically and pathologically to be a thrombophlebitis of the thoracoepigastric vein and its extensions, especially those extensions that coursed up over the lower and outer portions of the breast. Since then other case reports and some series with greater numbers of cases have appeared. Mondor himself presented two more papers on this subject, and because of his intense interest in this problem his name came to be associated with the clinical entity. While Mondor's disease has always been considered a medical rarity, the occurrence of the disease bilaterally is extremely uncommon. The case here presented—bilateral Mondor's disease—is believed to be the<i>third</i>such case reported