Background: A number of studies have reported breasts have high fluctuating asymmetry (FA:|Right-Left|), suggesting that they contain evolutionary and clinical information (e.g., high FA correlates with breast cancer risk). Here we focus on breast FA in women with a wide range of breast sizes, including participants with macromastia and/or gigantomastia.
Material and methods: The sample included 65 women (mean age 33.97 ± 12.1 years). Thirty were randomly selected students and/or patients who regarded their breast size as small, normal or average and who had not undergone or intended to have any breast surgery. The remainder (n = 35) were qualified for breast reduction due to macromastia and/or gigantomastia. In all participants we measured/calculated weight, height and BMI, as well as took chest photographs. Breast volumes and nipple areola complex FAs were evaluated in a specifically-designed software.
Results: Breast size significantly positively correlated with breast volume FA in all women (t = 5.17, p < 0.0001) and in women with macromastia/gigantomastia (t = 2.32, p = 0.027). All nipple location FAs correlated positively with breast size.
Conclusions: In women with different breast sizes, breast size correlates with FA calculated from breast volume and nipple location FAs. In women with macromastia and/or gigantomastia, breasts present higher FA than "normal" breasts. This observation may give a rationale for earlier and more frequent prophylactic breast imaging in women with macromastia and/or gigantomastia.
Keywords: breast size; fluctuating asymmetry; macromastia.