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The Aesthetically Ideal Position of the Nipple–Areola Complex on the Breast

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Abstract

Background

Several studies have attempted to identify an objective description of the aesthetically ideal breast, but they have all suffered in their reliability because of having several intrinsic limitations. It is therefore essential to design a template of ideal breast features in order to predict and evaluate aesthetic outcomes in both reconstructive and cosmetic breast surgery. The aim of this study was to determine the aesthetically preferred position of the nipple– areola complex on the breast.

Methods

A questionnaire was sent by regular mail to 1000 men and 1000 women aged between 16 and 74 years. They were asked to rank the attractiveness of a series of breasts of women in images with different NAC positions. The images showed breasts from two different angles: 12 frontal-view images with both breasts shown, and five sideview images with only one breast shown. All of the breasts had equal dimensions and proportions, with the same areola size but different NAC positions. Statistical analysis of data was carried out.

Results

Eight hundred and thirteen of 2000 participants completed the questionnaire. The NAC placement preferred by both genders had a ratio of 40:60 x and 50:50 y, which means that it was best situated in the middle of the breast gland vertically and slightly lateral to the midpoint horizontally. Significant differences were found between the age and gender subgroup preferences.

Conclusions

This study identified the preferred position of the nipple–areola complex on the female breast in the general population. This is an important information when planning breast reconstructive and cosmetic surgery.

Level of Evidence II

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Acknowledgments

We, hereby certify, that to the best of our knowledge no financial support or benefits have been received by the author or any co-author, by any member of our immediate family any commercial source which is related directly or indirectly to the scientific work which is reported in the article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plastic Surgery, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, University of Gothenburg, Gröna Stråket 8, 41345, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Richard Lewin, Matteo Amoroso, Nikolina Plate, Clara Trogen & Gennaro Selvaggi

Authors
  1. Richard Lewin
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  2. Matteo Amoroso
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  3. Nikolina Plate
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  4. Clara Trogen
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  5. Gennaro Selvaggi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard Lewin.

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Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

This article is being reprinted for ISAPS 50th Anniversary Special Issue.

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Lewin, R., Amoroso, M., Plate, N. et al. The Aesthetically Ideal Position of the Nipple–Areola Complex on the Breast. Aesth Plast Surg 44, 1130–1138 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-020-01814-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-020-01814-y

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