Incidental Pathologic Findings in Young Adult Reduction Mammaplasty

This study aims to characterize incidental microscopic findings in this population to determine whether there is a benefit to routine histopathologic examination of breast tissue in young women.

A retrospective review of young women who underwent reduction mammaplasty between June of 2010 and May of 2018 was performed at a single institution to identify demographics, age at the time of surgery, breast cancer risk factors, and pathologic data. Histologic reevaluation was performed when diagnostic clarification was needed. Descriptive, univariate, and multivariable statistical analyses were performed.

A total of 798 young women were included. At the time of surgery, the mean patient age was 17.5 ± 2.0 years, the mean body mass index was 28.7 ± 5.7 kg/m2, and the mean resection weight was 685 ± 339 g/breast. The majority of patients were reported to have pathologically normal tissue [n = 704 (88.2 percent)]. Of the 94 patients (11.8 percent) with abnormal findings, 21 (2.6 percent) had benign nonproliferative changes, 64 (8.0 percent) had proliferative lesions without atypia, nine (1.1 percent) had proliferative lesions with atypia, and a single patient (0.1 percent) had a borderline phyllodes tumor. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that age at menarche younger than 12 years was significantly associated with increased incidence of proliferative lesions.

Over 10 percent of young women with reduction mammaplasty have histopathologic findings. Although this study demonstrated an overall low incidence of atypical lesions, because early identification offers potential for improved surveillance, the authors continue to advocate for routine pathologic evaluation, particularly for women with early menarche.

Risk, III.