Atheroembolism to the Breast.

ABSTRACT

We report the case of a woman presenting with livedo reticularis of the breast who was found to have atheroembolism to the breast following upper extremity percutaneous access. Atheroembolism is the embolization of cholesterol crystals off an atherosclerotic plaque that can occur spontaneously or as a result of vascular intervention. This is a unique presentation of an otherwise well-described complication of vascular catheterization, and we propose that livedo reticularis of the breast can be interpreted as a sign of atheroembolism in the appropriate clinical context.