How is Poland’s syndrome treated?

Summer is a girl’s favorite season, abandon the bloated sweater, throw away the monotonous jeans, can not wait to change into a flirty halter dress, sexy swimsuit —– colorful summer, the girl wantonly show the proud body, beautiful face, who can not long for summer? But the beautiful and slim Meimei seems to stay in the spring, has been wearing a conservative style of sports T-shirts, this is why? Originally, Mei Mei was born soon, careful mother found her right side of the clavicle below the slight depression, the right side of the thorax is low, the mother thought it was too thin and weak cause, so did not pay attention. Female big eighteen changes, Meimei grew into a tall and beautiful, beautiful body girl, but the right side of the breast did not develop, the depression below the collarbone is more obvious, the left side of the breast development is very normal, not only that, the right side of the chest wall is also skinny and jagged, the root of the ribs can be clearly seen. Mei Mei therefore very low self-esteem, never dare to go to the public bathroom to take a bath, do not dare to swim, do not want to participate in social activities, always wearing thick padded tattoo breasts and high-necked tops to cover up their own troubles. By chance, Meimei heard that the plastic surgery department of Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital has very advanced breast cosmetic surgery technology, so she summoned up enough courage to come to the clinic. The friendly professor told Meimei that it was a congenital disease called “Poland Syndrome”. In 1841, this disease was first discovered by an Englishman named Poland, hence the name; also known as “pectoralis major muscle deficiency and finger syndrome”, the most typical manifestation of unilateral pectoralis major muscle deficiency combined with the same side of the short, and finger and other complex deformities, in female patients are usually combined with the same side of the breast, nipple areola hypoplasia. The extent of the disease varies greatly, from partial loss of the pectoralis major muscle in the mildest cases to hypoplasia of the pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, and serratus anterior, as well as the latissimus dorsi, external abdominal obliques, and ribs in more severe cases. Female patients usually have poor breast development, which can range from mild hypoplasia to complete absence, and the nipple areola may also show hypoplasia, high position, or even complete absence. Hand deformities usually occur on the same side as the chest lesion, and common limb deformities include syndactyly, short fingers, and absent fingers. The cause of the disease is still unclear, but most experts believe that the 6th-8th week of the embryo is the period of development of the upper limb buds, and that a defect in the development of the subclavian artery or one of its branches on one side of the body during this period leads to a defect in the development of the upper limb, breast, ribs, and other tissues and organs in the region of its innervation. Mei Mei’s symptoms are limited to the breasts and are part of “partial Poland’s syndrome”. Poland’s syndrome is rare, but not uncommon, with an incidence of 1 in 7,000 to 100,000, and occurs more often in males, with a male-to-female ratio of 2.5:1, mostly on the right side of the body, and a right-to-left incidence of 3:1. The majority of patients with chest deformities in the clinic are females in their pubertal period, but as attitudes have changed and males have become more and more concerned with their image, more and more males are requesting correction of their chest deformities. However, with the change of concept, men are more and more concerned about their own image, and more and more men are asking for correction of chest deformity. Many patients go to breast surgery, when in fact the disease should be seen in plastic surgery. Children with both chest and hand deformities should have their hand deformities corrected before school age, mainly to correct syndactyly to improve hand function and appearance, and short fingers and missing fingers are generally not treated. Repair of chest deformity should be carried out after the patient has matured. Female patients should be operated after puberty when the healthy side of the breast is fully developed to rebuild the symmetry of the chest; male patients can be operated at puberty or a little earlier to eliminate the psychological burden as early as possible. More severe patients may require correction of the chest bones, such as rib grafts or patch grafts. As the disease manifests itself in different ways, the specific treatment varies accordingly. Mild male patients can undergo fat injection filling, while severe ones can undergo latissimus dorsi muscle transfer filling or silicone implant filling. While mild female patients can choose suitable silicone gel breast implants for breast augmentation on the affected side, severe patients with insufficient muscle, subcutaneous fat, and even skin, the complications of implantation of implants alone are very high, and are prone to implant contour exposure, displacement, subcutaneous hernia, and periosteal contracture, etc., therefore, they need to be filled with autogenous tissues wrapped around the implant at the same time in order to recreate breasts with a natural shape in a safe and effective way. After the reconstruction of the breast is completed, the nipple and areola reconstruction is also carried out, which is an important finishing touch. At the same time, today’s society emphasizes the beauty of women’s lines. If patients are not satisfied with the healthy side of the breast, they can also undergo simultaneous corrections, such as breast augmentation, ptosis correction, and breast reduction, to create a more perfect body posture. Many patients are concerned that latissimus dorsi surgery is traumatic and risky, but in fact, it is a classic, routine surgery with mature technology for properly trained and experienced plastic surgeons. If patients have concerns about scarring, the current technology has been done only in the armpit to make a transverse incision, the use of advanced endoscopic technology for myocutaneous flap cutting, transfer and fixation; the chest can be buried dilator, the use of water expansion to obtain a sufficient amount of skin, and then replaced with a prosthesis. Some patients also have dysplasia of the latissimus dorsi muscle on the same side, then the latissimus dorsi muscle on the opposite side can be free transplanted and the surgery can be performed through small blood vessel anastomosis. After careful examination, Meimei’s condition was diagnosed as severe right-sided Poland syndrome, but fortunately, the right latissimus dorsi muscle was well developed. After the doctor’s detailed explanation, Meimei finally chose the latissimus dorsi muscle transfer with dilator implantation. Six months later, Meimei returned to the hospital and had her right breast expander replaced with a silicone gel breast implant, as well as breast augmentation of her left breast and tattooing of her right nipple and areola. Meimei, who truly has a perfect body, also has a heartfelt smile and self-confidence. She whispered to us that her greatest expectation now is the moment she puts on her beautiful wedding dress, which used to be her biggest worry.