BACKGROUND: Reduction mammaplasty is a surgery whose objective is to reduce the mammary size, improving aesthetic (MEB), or to attain of aesthetic balance in patients submitted to mammaplasty contralateral to breast cancer (MRC). The incidence of breast lesions in these specimens is variable and the previous cancer in one breast is a known risk factor for cancer in the contralateral breast. AIMS: To compare the frequency of epithelial proliferative breast lesions and other histological changes in specimens of MEB and MRC. METHODS: Breast surgical specimens from 867 MEB and 72 MRC had been reviewed and histological changes evaluated, with emphasis in epithelial hyperplasias relating them to patient's age. RESULTS: The average age of patients was MEB = 34 years and MRC = 50.3 years. Fibrocystic change was the most common diagnosis. Cysts/duct estasia were present in 50.9% of MEB and 59.7% of MRC. Epithelial hyperplasia was diagnosed in 10.1% of MEB and 43.1% of MRC specimens, especially in women over 40 years. Usual hyperplasia was the most frequent type in both groups (MEB = 9.8% and MRC = 33.3%). Atypical hyperplasia was present in 0.3% MEB and 9.7% MRC cases. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of epithelial hyperplasias was higher in MRC than in MEB specimens in spite of age.
Mammaplasty; Hyperplasia; Breast neoplasm
