Combined Oral Contraceptives Do Not Seem to Worsen Macromastia

FRIDAY, Oct. 7, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Use of a combined oral contraceptive pill during adolescence may be associated with less severe breast hypertrophy and does not seem to exacerbate macromastia-related symptoms, according to a study published in the October issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Laura C. Nuzzi, from Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues examined the association between combined oral contraceptive pill use and macromastia-related breast hypertrophy and symptoms. Three hundred seventy-eight patients aged 12 to 21 years undergoing reduction mammaplasty were assessed for baseline and postoperative breast symptoms and combined oral contraceptive pill use. Medical records were reviewed for 378 female controls of the same age range.

The researchers found that compared with controls, a lower proportion of the macromastia cohort used any hormonal contraception (37.8 versus 64.8 percent; odds ratio, 0.33); however, they were prescribed combined oral contraceptive pills more often (82.5 versus 52.7 percent; odds ratio, 1.93). Compared with controls, participants with macromastia who used combined oral contraceptive pills had a smaller median normalized amount of breast tissue resected during reduction mammaplasty (639.5 versus 735.9 g/m²). No associations were seen for combined oral contraceptive pills with breast-related symptoms or clinical impairment or with postoperative breast growth.

"Providers are encouraged to consider combined oral contraceptives for their adolescent patients with macromastia when indicated," the authors write.

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