This type of amastia can be further classified into unilateral and bilateral amastia. Unilateral amastia can be defined as amastia involving only one side of breast, while bilateral type refers to amastia on both sides of breast. Unilateral amastia is less common than bilateral amastia. Almost all the non-syndromic amastia patients are female. Signs and symptoms
Typically, amastia patients have both their nipple and areola missing, and the nipple may be absent on one or both sides of the breasts. Abnormalities are not often associated with the breasts. However, symptoms such as hypertelorism, saddle nose, cleft palate, urologic disorders and dysfunction of muscle, upper and lower limb have been observed. Sometimes several members of a family can be diagnosed as amastia simultaneously, all of them are carriers of mutations in TBX3 gene. This mutation could cause various abnormalities, not only amastia, but also deformation of limb and teeth.Cases of unilateral amastia are uncommon, and they are often associated with hypoplasia of pectoral major muscle and/or the thorax. Bilateral amastia is more common because it is often associated with other different syndromes. Therefore, the symptoms of bilateral amastia are easier to be diagnosed. Various associated syndromes are listed below. Associated syndromes
Amastia, particularly if it is bilateral, often related to various syndromes, including ectodermal dysplasia and Polands syndrome, which is characterised by anomalies of underlying mesoderm and abnormal pectoral muscle respectively.
Amastia refers to a rare clinical anomaly in which both internal breast tissue and the visible nipple are absent on one or both sides. It affects both men and women. Amastia can be either isolated (the only medical condition) or comorbid with other syndromes, such as ectodermal dysplasia, syndactaly (Polands syndrome) and lipoatrophic diabetes. This abnormality can be classified into various types, and each could result from different pathologies. Amastia differs from amazia and athelia. Amazia is the absence of one or both mammary glands but the nipples remain present, and athelia is the absence of one or both nipples, but the mammary gland remains.Amastia is presumably due to failure of embryologic (before birth) mammary ridge development or incomplete involution. People with amastia often suffer from ectodermal defects, which include various syndromes such as cleft palate, isolated pectoral muscle and abnormal formation of the arms.Treatment for female amastia particularly includes psychological guidance and breast reconstruction. Because there is no breast tissue, breastfeeding is not possible. If amastia only appears on one side, then it is possible to breastfeed on the other side. Often, people with amastia decide against treatment. Classification
Amastia can be either iatrogenic or congenital. The congenital amastia are further divided into syndromic type and non-syndromic type respectively. As the definition suggests, syndromic amastia is often associated with obvious symptoms. The common case is hypoplasia of ectodermal tissue, such as hair and skin defects. On the other hand, non-syndromic amastia, shows no defects in body parts other than breast.