Pronounced neonatal breast enlargement beyond the first week of life and its regression correlates with serum prolactin levels – a case series

Hilda-Brigitta Bartos; Linnéa Weise; Alexandra Schock; Sonja Diez; Christel Weiss; Karla Drommelschmidt; Andreas H. Mahnken; Helmut Hummler; Hanna Müller

doi:10.1515/jpem-2024-0230

Article

Pronounced neonatal breast enlargement beyond the first week of life and its regression correlates with serum prolactin levels – a case series

Hilda-Brigitta Bartos , Linnéa Weise , Alexandra Schock , Sonja Diez , Christel Weiss , Karla Drommelschmidt , Andreas H. Mahnken , Helmut Hummler and Hanna Müller

Published/Copyright: August 13, 2024

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From the journal Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism Volume 37 Issue 10

Abstract

Objectives

Mild breast swelling is frequently observed in newborns during the first postnatal week. Breast enlargement is also observed in a minor proportion of infants beyond the first postnatal week, leading to discussions how to deal with it. Our objective was to review a case series of infants with prolonged breast swelling.

Case presentation

We examined five infants with pronounced breast enlargement beyond the first postnatal week and measured human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), estradiol (E2), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin (PRL), and progesterone (P4) in blood samples and analyzed breast volume by sonographic volume determination in all infants initially and across time. The regression of breast enlargement positively correlated with serum prolactin levels in infants with breast enlargement beyond the first week of life. Complete regression occurred after several weeks and was characterized by normalization of serum prolactin levels.

Conclusions

The present study emphasizes the role of prolactin in neonates with pronounced breast enlargement beyond the first week of life.

Keywords: breast enlargement; infants; prolactin

Corresponding author: Prof. Dr. med. Hanna Müller, Division of Neonatology and Pediatric Intensive Care, Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Marburg, Philipps-University Marburg, Baldingerstr., 35043 Marburg, Germany; and Department of Neonatology, Tübingen University Hospital, Calwerstr. 7, 72076 Tübingen, Germany, E-mail: Hanna.Mueller@med.uni-tuebingen.de

Research ethics: Five cases with pronounced breast enlargement beyond the first week of life were studied with approval of the local Ethics Committee of the University Hospital Marburg, Germany, and the study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in 2013).
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.
Author contributions: Medical practices: Hilda-Brigitta Bartos, Linnéa Weise, Hanna Müller, Concept: Hanna Müller, Design: Hanna Müller, Data collection or processing: Hilda Bartos, Linnéa Weise, Alexandra Schock, Andreas H. Mahnken, Hanna Müller, Analysis or interpretation: Alexandra Schock, Christel Weiss, Literature Search: Hilda-Brigitta Bartos, Hanna Müller, Writing: Hanna Müller, Alexandra Schock, Sonja Diez, Karla Drommelschmidt, Helmut Hummler. The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Competing interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.
Research funding: None declared.
Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request from the corresponding author.

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Received: 2024-02-25

Accepted: 2024-07-19

Published Online: 2024-08-13

Published in Print: 2024-10-28

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/jpem-2024-0230

Keywords for this article

breast enlargement; infants; prolactin