GYNECOMASTIA

Abstract

Gynecomastia, derived from the Greek words: gyne, woman, and mastos, breast, has been a recognized entity since the days of Aristotle,¹ who reported that he had examined several such anomalies. The surgical removal for tumefaction of the breast was first advised by Paulus Aegineta² in 1556. He was followed by such men as Haly Abbas³ and Abul-Casimir el Zahrawi.⁴ In 1880, Olphan⁵ wrote an interesting article on gynecomastia. Schuchardt,⁶ in 1884-1885, reviewed the literature for new tissue formation in the male breast and from his findings published three papers. Two of these dealt with pathologic conditions, while the third described 40 cases as examples of true gynecomastia. Gruber,⁷ in 1886, concluded that true gynecomastia was a physiologic phenomenon with all the characteristics of the female organ. Schuchardt,⁶ however, included mastitis in his classification. Gruber,⁷ Langer,⁸ Luschka⁹ and Momberger¹⁰