A method of assessing female breast morphometry and its clinical application

A series of reproducible measurements have been developed with reference to a single midline datum that describe the position of key landmarks on the female breast. Measurements were made on a 'normal' population of 60 subjects content with their breast shape in order to (1) produce 'normal' reference data for breast shape in a population of varying weight and height; and (2) to evaluate factors which may influence the measurements. The findings show that the vertical positions of the measurements migrate inferiorly with increasing age. With increasing weight, the landmarks (except the medial end of the inframammary crease) migrate inferolaterally. Areolar diameter decreases with increasing age and increases with increasing weight. Only one of the 12 bilateral breast measurement parameters shows a significant mean difference between the right and left breast. However, in a proportion of subjects, individual measurements show fluctuating asymmetry. Subsequently, measurements were made of the breasts of women attending with requests for either reduction (n = 25) or augmentation (n = 6) mammaplasty. Compared with the 'normal' population, the group requesting reduction mammaplasty differed significantly in the majority of measurements. The group of patients requesting breast augmentation showed fewer differences compared with the 'normal' population. The average BMI of women requesting augmentation mammaplasty was significantly less and that of women requesting reduction mammaplasty significantly greater than the normal population. In conclusion, a simple and reproducible method of morphometric measurement of the female breast is described. Application of this method suggests that patients requesting reduction or augmentation mammaplasty on the NHS represent a significant deviation from 'normal' morphometry and do not simply have a subjective distortion of their own body image.