Symmastia is a condition defined as a confluence of the breast tissue of both
breasts
The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues.
In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secret ...
across the
intermammary cleft
The intermammary cleft or intermammary sulcus or sulcus intermammarius is a surface feature of males and females that marks the division of the two breasts with the sternum (breastbone) in the middle.Dr. Ted Eisenberg and Joyce K. Eisenberg, ''T ...
that normally divides them. It can be surgically corrected by a
plastic surgeon
Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniof ...
through symmastia revision.
Symmastia can either be a
congenital
A birth defect, also known as a congenital disorder, is an abnormal condition that is present at birth regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can ...
anomaly or
iatrogenic
Iatrogenesis is the causation of a disease, a harmful complication, or other ill effect by any medical activity, including diagnosis, intervention, error, or negligence. "Iatrogenic", ''Merriam-Webster.com'', Merriam-Webster, Inc., accessed 2 ...
. Congenital symmastia is a rare condition with few published cases. Iatrogenic symmastia may occur following
breast augmentation
Breast augmentation and augmentation mammoplasty is a cosmetic surgery technique using breast-implants and fat-graft mammoplasty techniques to increase the size, change the shape, and alter the texture of the breasts. Augmentation mammoplasty is ...
, forming what is also colloquially referred to as a "uniboob" or "breadloafing" as a result of the release of skin and muscle tissue around the sternum due to over-dissection.
References
Congenital disorders of breasts
{{disease-stub