Tuberous breasts (or tubular breasts) are a result of a

congenital abnormality A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can range from mild to severe. Birth de ...

of the breasts which can occur in both men and women (also see

Hypoplasia Hypoplasia (; adjective form ''hypoplastic'') is underdevelopment or incomplete development of a tissue or organ.puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles i ...

breast development is stymied and the breasts fail to develop normally and fully. The exact cause of this is as yet unclear; however, a study in 2011 of the cells in the breasts of both males and females with tubular breasts suggested a genetic link in a disorder of

collagen Collagen () is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix of the connective tissues of many animals. It is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up 25% to 35% of protein content. Amino acids are bound together to form a trip ...

deposition. The condition is thought to affect one to five per cent of

breast augmentation In medicine, breast augmentation and augmentation mammoplasty are terms that describe a cosmetic surgery procedure that uses either a Breast implant, breast implant or a fat-graft to realise a mammoplasty to increase the size, change the shape ...

patients; however, the proportion of the general population affected is unknown as surgery is not always sought.

Background

The tuberous breast deformity was first described by Rees and Aston in 1976 following which a method of classifying the severity was developed. The surgical classifications refer to which areas of the breast are affected and is divided into three grades; mainly in the inferomedial quadrant (Grade I); in the two inferior quadrants (Grade II); or affecting the whole breast (Grade III). This condition is also known as constricted breasts, tubular breasts, or herniated areolar complexes.

Effects

Tuberous breasts are not simply small or underdeveloped breasts. The effect of the condition on the appearance of the breast can range from mild to severe, and typical characteristics include enlarged, puffy

areola The human areola (''areola mammae'', or ) is the pigmented area on the breast around the nipple. More generally, an areola is a small circular area on the Human body, body with a different histology from the surrounding Tissue (biology), tissue ...

, unusually wide spacing between the breasts, minimal

breast tissue 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 embryological tissues. The relative size and development of the breasts is a major seco ...

, sagging, higher than normal breast fold, and narrow base at the

chest wall The thoracic wall or chest wall is the boundary of the thoracic cavity. Structure The bony skeletal part of the thoracic wall is the rib cage, and the rest is made up of muscle, skin, and fasciae. The chest wall has 10 layers, namely (from ...

. The condition can cause

low milk supply In breastfeeding women, low milk supply, also known as lactation insufficiency, insufficient milk syndrome, agalactia, agalactorrhea, hypogalactia or hypogalactorrhea, is the production of breast milk in daily volumes that do not fully meet the nu ...

breastfeeding Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or milk may be extracted with a Breast pump, pump and then fed to the infant. The World Health Orga ...

women. However, other physical aspects of fertility and pregnancy are not affected by the condition. Tubular breasts may lead to psychosexual problems with girls in very early puberty being affected psychologically due to the unusual shape of the breast.

Treatment

The appearance of tuberous breasts can potentially be changed through

surgical procedures Many surgical procedure names can be broken into parts to indicate the meaning. For example, in gastrectomy, "ectomy" is a suffix meaning the removal of a part of the body. "Gastro-" means stomach. Thus, ''gastrectomy'' refers to the surgical rem ...

, including the

tissue expansion Tissue expansion is a technique used by plastic, maxillofacial and reconstructive surgeons to cause the body to grow additional skin, bone, or other tissues. Other biological phenomena such as tissue inflammation can also be considered expansion ( ...

method, use of autologous fat grafting and

breast implants A breast implant is a prosthesis used to change the size, shape, and contour of a person's breast. In reconstructive plastic surgery, breast implants can be placed to restore a natural looking breast following a mastectomy, to correct congenital ...

. Depending on the extent of the tuberous breasts, a surgeon will release the constricted tissue and create a new breast fold. The procedure to change the appearance of tuberous breasts can be more complicated than a regular breast augmentation, and some plastic surgeons have specialist training in tuberous breast correction. A less complicated single-stage approach using saline implants can also provide a satisfactory aesthetic result. As tuberous breasts are a

congenital deformity A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can range from mild to severe. Birth de ...

, referral for treatment under the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

may be possible in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

.Policy for Cosmetic Surgery Referrals
/ref> For those seeking non-surgical solutions,

counseling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. This is a list of c ...

may be recommended as a way of coming to terms with

body image Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in several disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, psycho ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuberous Breast Breast diseases Congenital disorders of breasts Implants (medicine)