Lifting 2.7 Kilograms Of Breast Tissue From Gigantomastia Sufferers, Doctor: This Is The Largest In The Last 40 Years

Illustration of breast surgery. (Wikimedia Commons/National Cancer Institute/Linda Bartlett)

JAKARTA - Doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, India have successfully performed breast reduction surgery on a woman from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), saying they have not seen breasts of such size in the last 40 years.

According to a hospital statement shared with Sputnik, the 60-year-old woman was suffering from an extreme case of Gigantomastia, the condition of having breasts of abnormal size.

During the medical procedure, the doctors removed 1.3 kg of breast tissue from the left side and about 1.4 kg from the right side, according to the statement. In all, about 2.7 kg of tissue was removed around the woman's breasts.

Rajeev B. Ahuja, a senior consultant at the hospital's Department of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery pointed out that the woman's breasts reached two inches below the navel.

"In the last 40 years of my experience, I have seen many large breasts. But this patient had the largest breast, a size I had never seen before. The root cause of all the symptoms led to a very poor quality of life," explained dr. Ahuja, as reported by Sputnik News, April 27.

He further explained that the woman was suffering from severe back pain, pain in the neck, difficulty walking, excessive pressure on the shoulders due to the bra straps and rash (intertrigo) under her breasts.

"He lived a miserable life for the last 30 years," the doctor said.

"The operation was challenging and lasted for five and a half hours". Dr Ahuja, said the doctors had decided not to follow the conventional medical procedures, which are usually followed when operating on women with Gigantomastia.

"In most of these cases, the standard operation is to perform a partial amputation of the breast with a free nipple graft, which is not aesthetically pleasing, even if it reduces the burden on the chest," dr. Ahuja underlined.

However, in this case, the doctor who performed the surgery decided to perform a medical procedure known as "standard technique breast reduction".

They explain that this technique is used for surgeries involving large breasts, but is usually "not recommended" for Gigantomastia.

Explaining the decision, dr. Ahuja said following the conventional procedure (involving amputation of a portion of the breast), could lead to other medical complications for the woman, including “discoloration of the nipples.

The hospital said the patient was discharged three days after the operation, with the stitches removed after two weeks.

"She is now wearing a C/D cup size bra without discomfort and living a happy life without pain," concluded dr. Ahuja.