Tuberous breasts are malformations whose frequency is significant but difficult to assess. This is a very complex malformation for the teenagers and women concerned.
What are tuberous breasts?
It’s a malformation that affects one or both breasts, usually asymmetrically. The breast has a tuber shape: “It is an extremely common malformation. To give an idea, in a school, out of 100 adolescent girls, this malformation is most certainly present in several of them.“, notes Dr. Isabelle Sarfati, plastic surgeon. This malformation is very often hidden from the entourage: “teenagers do not talk about it, they are ashamed and avoid showing themselves naked in front of their parents or their friends“. She is not not painful.
What do tuberous breasts look like?
The tuberous breasts present a developmental defect of the lower part of the breast and a protrusion of the areola. They are tube or tuber shaped. They are characterized by:
- an inframammary fold that is too high with a breast that often falls over the submammary fold;
- enlarged areolasdistended and puffy that often look inward.
There is most often a asymmetry : “this malformation does not necessarily affect both breasts, it can affect only one. And when this malformation is present in both breasts, it does not affect them in the same way“, she adds. A classification of tuberous breasts allows experts to apprehend the severity of the pathology according to 3 grades : grade 1 (50% of cases), defect of the inferior-internal quadrant and the areola looks downwards and inwards; grade 2 (25% of cases), defect of the two lower quadrants of the breast, the areola looks down; and grade 3 (25% of cases), all quadrants of the breast fail, the breast does not come out at the areola.
What causes tuberous breasts?
It would be a problem during embryogenesis which will only appear in adolescence when the breasts grow. This breast malformation is probably congenital but not hereditary“that is to say that it is most often not transmissible”.
What solutions in case of tuberous breasts?
The solutions are surgical. Several techniques can be used: lipofilling, skin resections (especially the reduction in the size of the areola) and the placement of prostheses.
► Lipofilling is a surgical technique that allows fat transfer. The fat is removed by liposuction and reinjected into the breast (filling = filling.) “This technique allows you to sculpt the breast, increase the volume if necessary and lower the lower quadrants. It’s tailor-made“.
► Cutaneous resections will make it possible to decrease the size of the areola or straighten a drooping breast.
► The prostheses ensure an increase in overall breast size. “It’s a good solution for skinny women who have no volume at all and no fat to remove, but it’s a one-piece augmentation that’s much less tailor-made than lipofilling”.
The combination of these three techniques makes it possible to treat all tuberous breasts.
Tuberous breast surgery can be performed in a young girl from 15-16 years old (on request and parental consent). There is no upper age limit. Depending on the technique used, the operation is performed on an outpatient basis for lipofilling or skin resection, with one night of hospitalization if a prosthesis is fitted. It is a superficial surgery that takes place between the skin and the rib cage, the postoperative course is quite simple. Aesthetic results are often very good regarding the shape, volume and symmetry of the breasts. When skin resections are necessary, the quality of the scars varies from person to person. The correction of tuberous breasts may require two procedures to obtain an optimal result. “This surgery is minimally invasive, painless and very satisfying both the patient and the surgeon. It is a surgery that requires experience”concludes Isabelle Sarfati.
Thanks to Dr Isabelle Sarfati, plastic surgeon at the Breast Institute in Paris.