Micromastia
Encyclopedia
Micromastia, or breast hypoplasia
Hypoplasia
Hypoplasia is underdevelopment or incomplete development of a tissue or organ. Although the term is not always used precisely, it properly refers to an inadequate or below-normal number of cells. Hypoplasia is similar to aplasia, but less severe. It is technically not the opposite of hyperplasia...

, is a medical term describing the postpubertal underdevelopment of a woman's breast 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
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

 or radiotherapy) or it may be a more subjective aesthetic description.

Self perceived micromastia involves a discrepancy between a person's body image, and her 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.

Treatment

The procedure to remedy micromastia is most commonly augmentation mammoplasty using breast implants. Other techniques available involve using muscle flap-based reconstructive surgery techniques (latissimus dorsi and rectus abdominus muscles), microsurgical reconstruction, or fat grafting.

Other uses

Micromastia is also the name given to a genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of sac fungi
Ascomycota
The Ascomycota are a Division/Phylum of the kingdom Fungi, and subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the Sac fungi. They are the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species...

. The two known members are Micromastia fimicola.http://indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=188233 and Micromastia trigonospora.http://indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=188138

See also

  • breast
    Breast
    The breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues...

  • Breast implant
  • Poland's syndrome
  • breast reconstruction
    Breast reconstruction
    Breast reconstruction is the rebuilding of a breast, usually in women. It involves using autologous tissue or prosthetic material to construct a natural-looking breast. Often this includes the reformation of a natural-looking areola and nipple...

  • Amastia
    Amastia
    Amastia refers to a condition where breast tissue, nipple, and areola is absent, either congenitally or iatrogenically. Amastia in girls can be treated with augmentation mammoplasty....

  • Amazia
    Amazia
    Amazia refers to a condition where one or both of the mammary glands is absent . This may occur either congenitally or iatrogenically...

  • Plastic Surgery
    Plastic surgery
    Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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