title: A New Septum in the Female Breast.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Understanding the female breast fascial system is of paramount importance in breast surgery. Little was written about breast ligaments. Most articles refer to Cooper's work without further anatomical studies. Lately, a horizontal septum has been described conveying nerves and vessels to the nipple areola complex.
  
  
  METHODS
  During the surgical dissection of the lower part of the breast, in supero-medial technique for breast reduction operations, a fascial septum between the lower two quadrants was detected. This fibrous septum was studied through anatomic dissection of breast tissues during routine breast reshaping procedures that was done on 30 female patients. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed preoperatively in all cases and correlated with the intraoperative findings. In the other five cases, outside the clinical study, the imaging was done during routine investigation for breast swellings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A vertical septum was identified in the lower part of the breast, lying at the breast meridian between the two lower quadrants. It is a tough bi-laminated structure that extends from the middle of the infra-mammary crease caudally to nipple-areola complex cranially and from the pectoral fascia posteriorly to the overlying skin anteriorly. This was proved by MRI findings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study describes a new inferior vertical septum which separates the lower half of the breast into two definite anatomical compartments: medial and lateral.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mostafa Abdel Rahman
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Awad
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mahmoud Magdi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Sherif
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Eaman Yahya
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Sadek
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Hesham Aly
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Helal
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Wafaa Raafat Abdel
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Hamid
keywords: Breast; Fascia; Ligaments; Mammaplasty