There are a multitude of pathologies making up inflammatory breast disease. Some of these are relatively common and should be recognised immedietely by the clinician and radiologist such as acute puerpal mastitis, whereby drainage of infected collections and administration of antibiotics should not be impeded. Similarly, it is of utmost importance that the possibility of malignancy remains at the forefront of the radiologist’s mind, particularly as it often mimics common infection. Timely diagnosis is essential so as not to delay cancer treatment.

As part of this pictorial review, we have also presented a number of rarer aetiologies. A knowledge of these will help radiologists add value to the multidisciplinary team by providing pertinent differential diagnoses, performing appropriate sampling and suggesting further investigation when a diagnostic dilemma is faced.