A Clinical, Etiological, and Therapeutic Profile of Gynecomastia

Background and objective Gynecomastia is defined as a benign proliferation of male breast glandular tissue, either unilateral or bilateral, resulting from an imbalance of testosterone and estrogen. In this study, we aimed to describe the clinical, etiological, and therapeutic aspects of gynecomastia. Materials and methods A retrospective, descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology, and Nutrition at the Hassan II University Hospital in Fez, Morocco, over a period of 10 years. We included all patients admitted for exploration and treatment of gynecomastia. The data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2016 and SPSS Statistics version 18 (IBM, Armonk, NY). Results A total of 86 patients were included in this study; the mean age of the patients was 33 years (range: 15-86 years). A family history of gynecomastia was found in 4.6%. Isolated gynecomastia was the most frequent symptom (60.4% of cases). It was bilateral in 54% of cases, stage II in 63% of patients, stage I in 17%, and stage III in 20%. The first-line assessment (renal insufficiency, hepatic insufficiency/cirrhosis, dysthyroidism) was normal in the majority of cases. The etiologies were dominated by hypogonadism in 32.6% of cases, pubertal gynecomastia in 21%, and senile gynecomastia in 8.1%. Regarding treatment, 42% of patients received an etiological treatment, while surgical treatment was provided in 28% of cases, observation in 15% of cases, and androgen therapy in 15%. Pathological examination of all surgical specimens was benign. The follow-up was marked by 30.3% of static gynecomastia, 29% of regression, 17.5% of good response after surgery, and 24.4% of treatment refusal. Conclusions It is important to adopt a step-by-step approach in treating gynecomastia, starting with detailed questioning and clinical examination. The surgical treatment is currently the treatment of choice, the final goal of which is good aesthetic as well as psychological outcomes.