Summary
Background
Understanding the blood supply to the nipple–areola complex (NAC) in hypertrophic
breasts is essential to reduce the risk of NAC necrosis during reduction mammaplasty.
The aim of this study was to use dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging
(DCE-MRI) to determine the NAC blood supply of hypertrophic breasts compared with
normal-sized breasts.
Methods
DCE-MRI images of 100 Asian women (100 hypertrophic breasts and 100 normal-sized breasts)
were included retrospectively. All vessels supplying the NAC were identified using
axial, coronal, and sagittal maximum-intensity projection images. The diameter, length,
and distance to the skin surface of source vessels were measured.
Results
The number of source vessels in the hypertrophic breasts was larger than that in the
normal-sized breasts. 97.0% of hypertrophic breasts had multizone blood supply to
the NAC. In hypertrophic and normal-sized breasts, the proportion of vessels was highest
in the supermedial zone, followed by the superolateral zone and central zone. The
diameter of medial and lateral vessels was significantly increased in hypertrophic
breasts. Besides, the length of source vessels in hypertrophic breasts was larger
than that in normal-sized breasts.
Conclusions
Hypertrophic breasts tend to have a richer blood supply to the NAC than normal-sized
breasts. The predominant vessels supplying the NAC of hypertrophic breasts are the
superomedial, followed by the superolateral and central.
Level of Evidence: IV
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 02, 2022
Accepted:
October 26,
2022
Received:
August 16,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
