[Gynecomastia: our experience in surgical treatment]

A group of 78 patients with gynecomastia was observed between 1974-1987. Idiopathic gynecomastia was referred in 33 cases, cirrhosis in 31 cases, prostatic hypertrophy in 2 cases, while in 12 cases gynecomastia was induced by drugs. All patients with idiopathic form and 11 patients with secondary form were surgically treated by mastectomy (20 bilaterally and 24 unilaterally). The authors emphasize that, in this pathology, is much more important restoring the masculine feature of thorax without esthetic damage than removing the hypertrophic gland.