Micromastia (also called hypomastia, breast aplasia, breast hypoplasia, or mammary hypoplasia) is a medical term describing the postpubertal

underdevelopment Underdevelopment, in the context of international development, reflects a broad condition or phenomena defined and critiqued by theorists in fields such as economics, development studies, and postcolonial studies. Used primarily to distinguish s ...

of a woman's

breast The breasts are two prominences located on the upper ventral region of the torso among humans and other primates. Both sexes develop breasts from the same embryology, embryological tissues. The relative size and development of the breasts is ...

tissue. Just as it is impossible to define 'normal' breast size, there is no objective definition of micromastia. Breast development is commonly asymmetric and one or both breasts may be small. This condition may be a congenital defect associated with underlying abnormalities of the pectoral muscle (as in Poland's syndrome), related to trauma (typically

surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

radiotherapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignant cells. It is normally delivered by a linear particle ...

) or it may be a more subjective aesthetic description. Self-perceived micromastia involves a discrepancy between a person's body image, and their internalized images of appropriate or desirable breast size and shape. Societal ideals over breast size vary over time, but there exist many conceived ideas involving breasts and sexual attractiveness and identity across different cultures.

Causes

Micromastia can be a

congenital A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at childbirth, birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disability, disabilities that may be physical disability, physical, intellectual disability, intellectual, or dev ...

or acquired disorder and may be unilateral or bilateral. Congenital causes include ulnar–mammary syndrome (caused by

mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...

s in the TBX3 gene), Poland syndrome,

Turner syndrome Turner syndrome (TS), commonly known as 45,X, or 45,X0,Also written as 45,XO. is a chromosomal disorder in which cells of females have only one X chromosome instead of two, or are partially missing an X chromosome (sex chromosome monosomy) lea ...

, and

congenital adrenal hyperplasia Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a group of Genetic disorder#Autosomal recessive, autosomal recessive disorders characterized by impaired cortisol synthesis. It results from the deficiency of one of the five enzymes required for the Biosy ...

. There is also a case report of familial hypoplasia of the nipples and athelia associated with mammary hypoplasia that was described in a father and his daughters. Acquired causes of micromastia include

irradiation Irradiation is the process by which an object is exposed to radiation. An irradiator is a device used to expose an object to radiation, most often gamma radiation, for a variety of purposes. Irradiators may be used for sterilizing medical and p ...

in infancy and childhood and surgical removal of prepubertal breast bud.

Treatment

The procedure to remedy micromastia is breast enlargement, most commonly augmentation mammoplasty using breast implants. Other techniques available involve using muscle flap-based reconstructive surgery techniques (

latissimus dorsi The latissimus dorsi () is a large, flat muscle on the back that stretches to the sides, behind the arm, and is partly covered by the trapezius on the back near the midline. The word latissimus dorsi (plural: ''latissimi dorsi'') comes from L ...

and

rectus abdominis The rectus abdominis muscle, () also known as the "abdominal muscle" or simply better known as the "abs", is a pair of segmented skeletal muscle on the ventral aspect of a person, person's abdomen. The paired muscle is separated at the midline b ...

muscles), microsurgical reconstruction, or fat grafting. Another potential treatment is hormonal breast enhancement, such as with

estrogen Estrogen (also spelled oestrogen in British English; see spelling differences) is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three ...

References

External links

{{Congenital malformations and deformations of breast Congenital disorders of breasts

Causes

Treatment

See also

References

External links