Reviewer’s report
Title: 
Clinical characteristics and therapeutic strategy of granulomatous mastitis
accompanied by Corynebacterium kroppenstedtii: A retrospective cohort study
Version: 
0 
Date: 
24 Mar 2023
Reviewer's report:
PEER REVIEWER ASSESSMENTS: 
OBJECTIVE - Full research articles: is there a clear objective that addresses a
testable research question(s) (brief or other article types: is there a clear
objective)?
Yes - there is a clear objective
DESIGN - Is the current approach (including controls and analysis protocols)
appropriate for the objective?
Yes - the approach is appropriate
EXECUTION - Are the experiments and analyses performed with technical rigor
to allow confidence in the results?
Yes - experiments and analyses were performed appropriately
STATISTICS - Is the use of statistics in the manuscript appropriate?
No - there are issues with the statistics in the study
INTERPRETATION - Is the current interpretation/discussion of the results
reasonable and not overstated?
Yes - the author's interpretation is reasonable
OVERALL MANUSCRIPT POTENTIAL - Is the current version of this work
technically sound? If not, can revisions be made to make the work technically
sound?
Probably - with minor revisions
PEER REVIEWER COMMENTS: 
GENERAL COMMENTS: This is an interesting and potentially important
manuscript describing the outcomes of two groups of patients with
granulomatous mastitis, those who were and were not positive for infection by 
Corynebacterium kroppenstedtii. 
The study was a retrospective cohort study and
in general well conceived and executed. 
The discussion is long and at some
points goes well beyond the actual study data. 
Nevertheless with some minor
editing this study will make an important contribution to the literature
REQUESTED REVISIONS: 
Minor issues that need to be edited and/or corrected
1. The authors state in lines 142-143 
"At the same time, we designed a
questionnaire for more information of interest such as lactating 
time and
recurrence. The data were analyzed retrospectively." 
This implies that the
subjects were contacted and asked to complete a questionnaire. 
If this is so then
waiver of informed consent would not have been appropriate as stated 
on lines
111-113. 
This needs to be clarified.
2. In multiple places Z scores are reported. 
The use of Z scores is not explained
in the methods section. 
Please add this to the methodology, and explain how the
significance testing was performed. 
3. Lines 69-71 "The etiology of GM is still unknown, and may be hormonal
imbalance such
as hyperprolactinemia, autoimmunity, microbiological agents, smoking, oral
contraceptive pills, ethnicity, and α1-antitrypsin deficiency [7,10,11]."
This sentence should be restructured as many of the etiologies mentioned are not
hormonal imbalance
4. Line 64 -"more popular in China" 
I believe you mean more prevalent
ADDITIONAL REQUESTS/SUGGESTIONS: 
Just those stated above
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Is the study design appropriate to answer the research question (including the use
of appropriate controls), and are the conclusions supported by the evidence
presented?
Yes
Are the methods sufficiently described to allow the study to be repeated?
Yes
Is the use of statistics and treatment of uncertainties appropriate?
No
Is the presentation of the work clear?
No
Are the images in this manuscript (including electrophoretic gels and blots) free
from apparent manipulation?
Yes
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No