Hormonal Contraceptive Use in Adolescents with Macromastia is Not Associated with Severity of Breast Hypertrophy
Laura C. Nuzzi, BA, Tannishtha Pramanick, Joseph M. Firriolo, MD, Brian I. Labow, MD.
Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
BACKGROUND: Adolescent macromastia is common in our society and some studies have noted an increase in young women seeking reduction mammaplasty. However, the cause for this increased prevalence is not completely understood. This study explores the relationship between macromastia and hormonal contraceptive use, age at menarche, gynecological comorbidity, and body mass index (BMI) category.
METHODS: A cohort of adolescents who underwent bilateral reduction mammaplasty were prospectively followed. Intake evaluations assessing baseline symptomology, past medical history, review of systems, and medication use were administered by clinical staff. Severity of macromastia was assessed using the total amount of breast tissue resected.
RESULTS: A total of 410 subjects were included in analyses, with a mean age at surgery of 17.9 years and a median total resection mass of 1225g. Median age at menarche was 12 years, and median time from menarche to reduction mammaplasty was 6 years. Roughly one-fifth of patients were on hormonal contraceptives prior to or at the time of reduction mammaplasty. A little less than half of all patients indicated having dysmenorrhea or menorrhagia. Neither hormonal contraceptive use nor abnormal menses were associated with severity of macromastia (p>0.05, both). BMI category was positively associated with macromastia severity, while menarche age was negatively associated with severity (p<0.05, both). Although years since menarche was positively associated with macromastia severity (p<0.05), this association was no longer significant when subjects were at least 7 years post menarche (p>0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Hormonal contraceptive use in our cohort of adolescents with macromastia did not appear to exacerbate patients’ breast hypertrophy. Having greater breast hypertrophy, however, was associated with degree of pubertal maturation, being overweight or obese, and early menarche.
Back to 2018 Posters
