Question:
Can you give me some information about Morgagni's tubercles and where
they are located in the breast? What is the difference between these
tubercles and Montgomery's glands or tubercles. Thanks!
Doctor George's reply:
Montgomery's glands or tubercles, also called glandulae areolares
(mammae) consists of a group of 12-15 sebaceous glands in the areola of the nipple. These are small prominences around the nipple of the breast
that enlarge during pregnancy and lactation. They have appearance of small seedlike tubercles. They were previously described by Giovanni Battista Morgagni, which is probably why the term morgagni's tubercles is sometimes used.
However, there is also another term, Morgagni's lacunas/sinuses or
urethral lacunae/glands or Littre's glands, which are small mucous glands of the male urethra. Morgagni's lacuna is one of a number of little recesses in the mucous membrane of the spongy urethra into which empty the ducts of the urethral gland.
There is also another which is called Morgagni's sinus, which refers to
the space between the upper border of the levator veli palatini and the
base of the skull. Thus we prefer to call the ones in the breast Montgomery's glands to avoid too much confusion.
