Posted on: Nov 12, 2021 09:29PM

SteffiW wrote:

I am 31 years old and have been having bloody discharge from one nipple for about two and a half weeks. I went to urgent care about it after the first couple days. The blood comes in small drops when I gently squeeze my nipple, sometimes looking like straight blood and sometimes mixed with clear fluid. I am scheduled for a mammogram and ultrasound, but the appointment is nearly three weeks away and it is unlikely that I'll be able to snag an earlier appointment. (Infection and pregnancy have been ruled out, and I have no associated pain or lumps.)

My research has indicated that the most likely cause of the bleeding is an intraductal papilloma. (Any input on this is welcome.)

My questions are:

1) If it stops bleeding on its own, especially if it does so before my imaging, will that affect what the likely diagnosis is? I haven't been able to find information about whether intraductal papillomas stop bleeding.

2) What happens if nothing is visible on the imaging? I'm scared of not getting any kind of answer. I have NF1 which increases my risk of breast cancer and so my geneticist has made me do aggressive screening imaging including mammogram/ultrasound last year and an MRI early this year, so I know nothing was visible even recently but my past imaging has shown dense tissue which will make it harder to find anything.

3) If it does show under ultrasound/mammogram what happens? Will they biopsy it right away? How likely are they to recommend surgical removal?

Any advice and input is much appreciated.