J Korean Surg Soc.
1999 May;56(5):647-654.
Surgical Excision of Accessory Axillary Breast Tissues
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Surgery, Taegu Fatima Hospital, Taegu, Korea.
Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Accessory axillary breast tissue is present in approximately 2% to 6% of women, but receives little attention in the surgical literature. Furthermore, a carcinoma, as well as other pathologic changes, can arise within accessory axillary breast tissue.
METHODS
Between January 1990 and December 1997 at our clinic, 83 patients underwent surgical removal of accessory axillary breast tissue. All the patients were female, and the ages ranged from 14 to 57 years, with a median of 33.8. The clinical characteristics, indications, and techniques of surgical removal, pathologic findings, and postoperative results were analyzed.
RESULTS
The major clinical manifestations were axillary mass (95.2%), pain and/or tenderness (41%), and cyclic change of size (21.7%). In most patients, these symptoms appeared first during puberty (25.3%) and pregnancy (43.4%). On examination, the mass was in the right axilla in 35 patients (42.2%), the left axilla in 19 patients (22.9%) and both axillae in 29 patients (34.9%), and 3 patients had rudimentary accessory nipples. Surgical removal was performed for cosmetic problems (61.5%), clinical symptoms (21.7%), and suspicion of pathologic lesions (9.6%). The excised breast tissue varied in size from 2.5 cm to 14 cm with a median of 6.2 cm. The pathological findings demonstrated ductal dilatation in 21 patients (25.3%), chronic inflammation in 4 patients (4.8%), fibrocystic changes in 3 patients (3.6%) and lactating adenosis in 2 patients (2.4%). Postoperative complications developed in 8 patients (8.3%), and seroma was the most common. In our study, none of the patients experienced recurrence of disease, and 96.4% of the patients enjoyed cosmetically satisfying outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, from our experience, the treatment of choice for accessory axillary breast tissue is surgical removal, which eliminates the clinical symptoms and the aesthetical deformity and provides tissue to rule out any pathologic changes including malignancy. For cosmetically satisfying outcomes, a scar hidden from sight and balanced shapes of both axillae should be kept in mind during the operation.
