title: Massive bilateral breast reduction in an 11-year-old girl: 24% ablation of body weight.
abstract: An 11-year-old girl with massive virginal breast hypertrophy is presented. The breasts had begun to grow rapidly at puberty and had reached an enormous size within a year, to the point of causing physical impairment and respiratory compromise. Routine blood chemistry and endocrine investigation was normal, as was an MRI scan of the pituitary fossa. A bilateral reduction mammaplasty with free nipple grafts was performed, removing 12.5 kg of tissue in all (24% of the total body weight). There was no recurrence at a 2 year follow up, and no requirement for additional surgery. A review of the literature reveals that breast regrowth is less frequent when free nipple grafting is used, and this technique is recommended for these extraordinary cases.
authors.affiliation: University of Rome, Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy. lindafiumara@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fiumara
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Gault
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Nel
authors.forename: Dominique N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Courtauld
mesh_terms: D001835:Body Weight; D001940:Breast / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D016462:Mammaplasty / Q000379:methods; D009558:Nipples / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D016896:Treatment Outcome