A 40-year-old woman was horrified when one of her breasts started to grow to a huge size after a rare reaction to taking fertility-boosting hormones. The unnamed patient developed a condition called unilateral gigantomastia, which occurs when one breast grows abnormally large.
In her case, the mum-of-one’s left breast was affected. The patient, a housewife, was undergoing ‘ovarian hormonal stimulation’ to help her conceive – which doctors believe caused the condition. Over the course of three years following her pregnancy, the patient experienced a “significant and rapid” increase in the size of her breast, as well as weight gain.
She reported having severe back pain, difficulty walking, and psychological distress as a result. Her case was referred to a breast specialist and oncologist, though doctors were able to rule out the possibility of cancer with a biopsy.
However, the results indicated diffuse ductal hyperplasia – a condition which occurs when cells in the breast’s milk ducts grow abnormally. To combat the woman’s distress, aesthetic surgery was agreed to reduce the size of the breast, as well as a nipple graft.
Surgeons successfully removed 7lbs (3.45kg) of breast tissue, and left the patient with an equally sized, balanced chest. The results, which were recently shared in a medical journal, were successful, with the patient reporting a high level of satisfaction with the outcome.
The surgeons described it as “one of the most extreme instances of gigantomastia encountered in our surgical experience”.