page_title: Breast hypertrophy
section_title: Gigantomastia
hierarchical_section_title: Breast hypertrophy / Society and culture / Reported instances / Gigantomastia
caption_attribution_description: English: "Lu-shi, aged 42, first presented herself at the hospital, April 17; and when we were about to operate on her, after a few weeks' preparatory treatment, her impatient, opium-smoking husband suddenly summoned her home. Her husband died, and the woman returned. Dec. 24, 1849, the left breast, measuring 2 feet, 2 1/2 inches in circumference, and weighing 4 1/2 catties (about 6 pounds), was removed in three and a half minutes. In one month after, the right breast, measuring 2 feet, and weighing 5 1/2 pounds was removed in three minutes."
context_page_description: Breast hypertrophy is a rare medical condition of the breast connective tissues in which the breasts become excessively large. The condition is often divided based on the severity into two types, macromastia and gigantomastia. Hypertrophy of the breast tissues may be caused by increased histologic sensitivity to certain hormones such as female sex hormones, prolactin, and growth factors. Breast hypertrophy is a benign progressive enlargement, which can occur in both breasts or only in one breast. It was first scientifically described in 1648.
context_section_description: One early and extreme case study of gigantomastia dates to 1670. The patient died four months after the onset of enlargement. One breast removed after the woman's death weighed 29 kg (64 lb).
  On April 17, 1848, a 42-year-old woman named Lu-shi was treated for hypertrophy in a Chinese hospital. She was treated by a missionary physician. On December 24, 1849, the left breast, measuring 67 cm (26.5 in) in circumference, and weighing 2.7 kg (6 lb), was removed in a procedure lasting three and a half minutes. The right breast was removed one month later. It measured 61 cm (24 in) in circumference and weighed 2.5 kg (5.5 lb).
  In 2005, a woman reported that her breasts grew at puberty from nothing to a C cup in one month. When she became pregnant for the first time, her breasts increased two cup sizes in a few days. Immediately after her first birth, her breasts grew three cup sizes. After her second child was born, her breasts increased six cup sizes. After her third childbirth, they grew 10 cup sizes, and after her fourth child was born, they grew nine cup sizes. In this instance, the swelling abated about 10 days after childbirth, but her bra cup size remained E to a G for the next year. About one year postpartum, her breasts rapidly atrophied to AA cup size.
  One of the most severe cases of macromastia was reported from Ilorin in Nigeria. In 2007, Dr Ganiyu Adebisi Rahman and his colleagues reported the case of a 26-year-old woman who presented with massive swelling of her breasts and bilateral axillary swellings of 6 years duration. Dr Rahman led a team of surgeons in Ilorin to perform a total bilateral excision of the hypertrophied axillary breasts, and bilateral breast amputation with composite nipple-areola complex graft of the normally located breasts. The total weight of the breast tissues removed was 44.8 kilograms.
  Another extreme case was observed in 2008 in Maria Vittoria Hospital in Turin, Italy, where the amount removed from both breasts was 17.2 kg (38 lb). The growth occurred during puberty making it a case of juvenile gigantomastia, but the patient did not seek treatment until the age of 29. Another extreme case was observed on August 28, 2003, when a 24-year-old woman was admitted to the Clinical Center Skopje in Macedonia with gigantomastia of pregnancy and the amount later removed from both breasts was 15 kg (33 lb) in total. A second case in Macedonia was reported when the breasts of a 30-year-old woman from a remote mountain village in eastern Macedonia suddenly grew to more than 30 kilograms (66 lb) total.
  As the disorder becomes more widely known, media reports have increased. French Canadian Isabelle Lanthier appeared on Montel Williams' talk show where she told how her chest grew from 86 cm (34 in) to 133 cm (52.5 in) in five months during her pregnancy. At their largest, one breast weighed 6.8 kg (15 lb) and the other 5.4 kg (12 lb). Her husband custom-made a special bra to support her breasts.
  In 2007, a Chilean TV station covered the story of 32-year-old Yasna Galleguillos from Antofagasta, who experienced ongoing back pain, making everyday tasks very difficult to perform. She underwent breast reduction surgery to relieve her pain. Surgeons removed 4.25 kilograms (9.4 lb) from one breast and 3.33 kilograms (7.3 lb) from the other breast.
  On October 29, 2009, the Philippine television network GMA News and Public Affairs, producers of Wish Ko Lang ("Just My Wish") hosted by Vicky Morales, profiled the story of Pilma Cabrijas, a 30-year-old woman afflicted by gigantomastia. The woman was told by a folk healer that her condition may have been caused by a curse. The measured bust circumference without appropriate bra support was 160 cm (63 in). The weight of her breasts was not reported in detail, but seemed to weigh "as much as two children." She had breast reduction surgery performed, but her breasts regrew. The producers of Wish Ko Lang paid for additional surgery.
caption: A painting by Lam Qua of Lu-shi, age 42, on April 17, 1848, prior to breast reduction surgery.
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