Virginal breast hypertrophy
2307536
218311988
2008-06-10T01:58:40Z
68.89.166.137
'''Virginal breast hypertrophy''' (VBH) is not a medical name, but the more known name for ''juvenile macromastia'' and ''juvenile [[gigantomastia]]''. It causes excessive growth of the [[breasts]] during [[puberty]] and has a much higher frequency than the rare cases of breast hypertrophy in pregnancy.
VBH normally starts when puberty starts, soon after the girl's first [[menstrual period]], but some doctors suggest that breast development ([[thelarche]]) occurs before menstrual onset ([[menarche]]).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.obgyn.net/yw/yw.asp?page=/yw/puberty_QnA | title=Puberty Stages of Development | work=Ask the Expert FAQs | publisher=OBGYN.net | accessdate=2006-11-21}}</ref>
The breast growth sometimes is not constant and comes in "growth spurts". At times, women may have minimal or no breast growth and then experience a growth spurt where the breasts grow very rapidly in a short space of time. These growth spurts cause great physical discomfort, the main symptoms being red, itchy skin and sometimes a general ache in the breasts. But in [[puberty]] the breasts can also continuously grow at an even pace for the space of several years. This process can overdevelop a completely normal and healthy breast, sometimes to gigantic extents.
With VBH, enlargement of the [[nipples]] usually also occurs, and the nipples can grow to an enormous size. In very severe cases of VBH, [[Clitoral hypertrophy|hypertrophy of the clitoris]] can also occur.
== Notes ==
<div class="references-small"><references/></div>
==External links==
*[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8614890&dopt=Abstract Massive asymmetric virginal breast hypertrophy]
*[http://www.loc.gov/catdir/samples/wiley031/00066252.pdf U.S.A. Library of Congress - Healthy Breasts: A Primer]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=avOD0yFh024C&pg=PA102&dq=%22hypertrophy+of+the+breasts%22+abnormal Google books - The Breast: Its Anomalies, Its Diseases, and Their Treatment]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=sgzA3opK1D8C&pg=PA753&dq=hypertrophy+of+the+breast&sig=uLjMYxv0LHS674lElI-uab0DzzI#PPA754,M1 Google books - Rhinoplasty and Facial Plastic Surgery with a Supplement on Mammaplasty and Other Operations in ...]
*[http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1399262 A case of massive hypertrophy of the breasts]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=juwIAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA759&lpg=RA1-PA759&dq=durston+%2264+pounds%22&source=web&ots=4VLCkiLRnv&sig=vkTgPPvXejplStu_tOszOnnbHqQ#PRA1-PA760,M1 Google books - Anomalies and curiosities of medicine: Being an Encyclopedic Collection of Rare and ...]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=6MPso2LRx20C&pg=PA234&lpg=PA234&dq=%22diffuse+hypertrophy+of+the+breast%22&source=web&ots=IQwnM85R_7&sig=GE5SQJak2uQaNQdp2x4_xjaI8Ps#PPA235,M1 Google books - The International text-book of surgery v.2]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=xzBwgYe0yC8C&pg=RA13-PA693&dq=%22hypertrophy+of+the+breast%22+fig.#PRA13-PA694,M1 Google books - The Science and art of surgery v.1]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=4762tNIkDBcC&pg=PA147&dq=%22hypertrophy+of+the+breast%22+fig. Google books - Surgical diagnosis and treatment Index, 1922]
{{human-repro-stub}}
[[Category:Breast]]
[[Category:Sexual anatomy]]
[[es:Hipertrofia virginal de los senos]]
[[ja:思春期乳腺肥大症]]