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Tuberous breast deformity

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Tuberous breast deformity is a pathologic condition of the breast affecting teenage women.

The aberration of breast shape in tuberous breast deformity consisting of a constricting ring at the breast base, breast tissue deficiency, and herniation of breast tissue into the nipple-areola-complex with areola enlargement.

Tuberous breast deformity is a pathologic condition of the breast affecting teenage women.

  • other names of this deformity include snoopy breast, conical breast, tubular breast deformity, domed nipple, lower pole hypoplasia, and many others (1-4).
  • tuberous breast deformity is characterized by a constricting ring at the base of the breast that leads to herniation of breast tissue towards the nipple areola complex, causing it to become oversized and protuberant
    • base of a tuberous breast is absent or deficient in vertical as well as horizontal dimension. Moreover, breast tissue is hypoplastic, the inframammary fold is elevated, and additional asymmetry of the breasts is a common accompanying condition
  • the exact pathologic mechanisms underlying the development of the tuberous breast deformity are unknown so far

A classification system has been suggested:

  • Type I (hypoplasia of the lower medial quadrant)
  • Type II (hypoplasia of the lower medial and lateral quadrants, sufficient skin in the subareolar region)
  • Type III (hypoplasia of the lower medial and lateral quadrants, deficiency of skin in the subareolar region)
  • type IV (severe breast constriction, minimal breast base).

Clinical features:

  • breasts are not simply small or underdeveloped breasts
  • typical features include: enlarged, puffy areola, unusually wide spacing between the breasts, minimal breast tissue, sagging, higher than normal breast fold, and narrow base of breasts at the chest wall

Treatment:

  • this depends on the breast deformity but may include reconstruction of the breast areola and the use of breast implants

Reference:

  • 1) Atiyeh BS, Hashim HA, El-Douaihy Y, et al. Perinipple round-block technique for correction of tuberous/tubular breast deformity. Aesthetic Plast Surg 1998;22:284-8.
  • 2) Dinner MI, Dowden RV. The tubular/tuberous breast syndrome. Ann Plast Surg 1987;19:414-20.
  • 3) Leffler M, Horch RE, Bach AD. Aesthetic correction of tuberous breast deformity in a male-to-female transsexual patient. Plast Reconstr Surg 2007;119:1138-40.
  • 4) Rees TD, Aston SJ. The tuberous breast. Clin Plast Surg 1976;3:339-47.

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The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

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