Gigantomastia

Overview

Gigantomastia is extreme growth of the breasts (i.e. 10 pounds per breast and more). Gigantomastia was first described in literature in 1648.[1] The condition is caused by over-sensitivity to the female hormones estrogen and progesterone, and/or an unusually high quantity of these hormones. Gigantomastia means bilateral benign progressive breast enlargement to a degree that requires breast reduction surgery to remove more than 4 lb of tissue on each side.[2] In severe cases women have breasts that weigh in excess of 20 lb each. The largest recorded weight was 67 lb per breast.

Symptoms

Abnormally large breasts

Causes

Gigantomastia occurs most often to young women as juvenile gigantomastia, commonly known as virginal breast hypertrophy. The frequency of gigantomastia during the adolescent breast development is not evident to the public because many afflicted woman obtain breast reduction surgery by age 17. Gigantomastia occurs in 1 out of every 28,000 to 100,000 pregnancies.

Treatment

There is no medical treatment for the condition other than plastic surgery. Breast reduction surgery is not approved unless the breasts weigh at least 3.5 lb per breast, and/or at least 1 lb of tissue per breast needs to be removed. Like many cases of macromastia, most surgeries are not medically necessary. Elective surgery is performed because (in western society particularly) younger women with large breasts may be subject to unwanted sexual attention or societal prejudices