Retro-Areola Distally Based Flap in the Management of the Full Expression of Tuberous Breast: A Simple Strategy to Resolve a Weak Point of the Deformity.
BACKGROUND
Tuberous breast is a rare congenital deformity which is likely to appear in various clinical forms, the worst being characterized by severe hypoplasia. This clinical expression may represent one of the greatest challenges in breast surgery due to malformation memories that restrict the reshaping of the mammary cone that would not otherwise be solved through a simple breast augmentation. To improve the quality of the final results correction of the tuberous aspect often requires the use of adipo-glandular flaps frequently described in the literature to reconstruct the inferior mammary pole which works efficiently, even though a typical depression often remains between the inferior border of the areola and the closer skin to recall the memory of the tuberous aspect.


METHODS
Between September 2006 and March 2014, 71 patients with tuberous breasts underwent surgical procedures to repair the deformities. The mean patient age was 18.6 years (ranging between 17 and 23). A periareolar approach, adipo-glandular flaps, and dual plane subpectoral breast implant placements were used in all the cases. All the procedures were performed in a single stage under local anesthesia plus sedation.


RESULTS
Follow-up ranged from 6 months to 6 years.


CONCLUSIONS
The authors propose the use of a retro-areola glandular flap to resolve the typical residual depression of the final mammary aspect thus to overcome the malformation completely.


METHODS
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Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Careggi, Florence, Italy, innocentialessandro@alice.it.
Alessandro
A
Innocenti
Marco
M
Innocenti
D000293:Adolescent; D001940:Breast / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000601:surgery; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004954:Esthetics; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016462:Mammaplasty / Q000379:methods*; D009558:Nipples; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000637:transplantation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult