Breast Anatomy for the Interventionalist

Abstract

Normal breast anatomy can be seen on a variety of imaging modalities. Knowledge of normal breast anatomy on imaging examinations is important for an interventionalist, primarily to avoid mistaking normal anatomy for a pathologic disorder, so as not to harm a patient with an unnecessary intervention. Knowledge of breast anatomy is also critical in planning safe breast interventions and unwanted procedural complications. The key anatomical structures in the breast include skin, fat, fascial layers, Cooper ligaments, fibroglandular tissue, lymphatics, and neurovascular structures, all positioned over the chest wall. In men, the breast parenchyma is usually only composed of fat, with absence of fibroglandular tissue. In women, fibroglandular tissue volumes vary with age, with many women having a predominance of fat within the breasts after menopause.Embryologically, the breast develops under genetic and hormonal influence from skin precursor cells during the fourth through twelfth weeks of gestation, and the resulting breast bud continues to lengthen and branch throughout the remainder of gestation, forming a complex network of radially arranged breast ducts that connect the nipple with the mammary lobules. The key arterial blood supply to the breast arises from the internal thoracic artery, but additional arterial blood supply is seen from intercostal and lateral thoracic arteries. The venous anatomy and lymphatic drainage of the breast generally parallels the arterial anatomy, with presence of variation in communicating channels between deep and superficial venous and lymphatic channels. Tools that assess breast vascular structures (eg, contrast-enhanced breast magnetic resonance imaging) and lymphatic structures (nuclear medicine Iymphoscintigraphy) are routinely used to assess extent of breast disease and help guide breast interventions. Tech Vasc Interventional Rad 17:3-9 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Study of Effect of Numerical Breast Phantom Heterogeneity on Dielectric Profile Reconstruction Using Microwave Imaging

“…This paper is a simulation based study of effect of numerical breast phantom heterogeneity on reconstruction of breast dielectric profile. Breast anatomy is given in [12], which clearly supports our assumption of considering only fibro-glandular and fatty (adipose) tissues in this study. Gauss-Newton and CGLS iterative algorithms are given in [13], which do not use any shape related parameters like level set functions.…”

“…Breast anatomy is covered with great detail in [12] for researchers. Breast consists of skin layer, fatty tissue layer, fibroglandular tissues, chest wall (ribs and pectoral muscles), and blood vessels.…”

Radiology of axillary region in breast cancer staging: Mammography, ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging and lymphography techniques

“…Mammarian duktus duvarlarından ve interlobüler konnektif dokudan orjin alan lenfatik kanallar venöz yapılarla birlikte seyir gösterir ve primer olarak aksiller ya da internal mammarian lenf nodlarına dökülürler [5,13]. Memenin santral ve medial kesimleri internal mammarian lenf nodlarına, memenin diğer kesimleri ve subareolar alan aksiller lenf nodlarına drene olur.…”

Management of Multifocal-Multicentric Breast Cancer: Current Perspective

“…The use of breast cancer quadrants for classification is now recognized as inappropriate since it is based on an arbitrary definition, not considering the breast lymphatic anatomy. The rich lymphatic system of the breast originates from walls of mammary ducts an interlobular connective tissue (6). There are many connections between the deep lymphatic and superficial coetaneous lymphatic channels, especially around the nipple in subreolar plexus.…”