Assessing Breasts and Lymphatic System

Structure and Function

Breasts:

 Paired mammary glands

 Male and female breast are similar until puberty, when females breast tissue enlarges in
response to the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which are release from the
ovaries.
 Depending on their size and shape, the breast extend vertical from the second to the
sixth rib and horizontally from the sternum to the mid-axillary line.
 Functions of female breasts: to produce and store milk that provides nourishment for
newborns and aid in sexual simulation

 Male breasts have no functional

BREAST STRUCTURE
External Breast Anatomy

 Nipples – surrounds the nipple, contains tiny openings of the lactiferous ducts through
which milk passes
 Areola – surround the nipple
o Montgomery Glands – sebaceous gland within the area that secrete a protective
lipid substance during lactation (1-2 cm radius)
 Hair Follicles – commonly appear around the areola
 Smooth muscle fibers into the areola cause the nipple to become more erectile during
stimulation.
 The nipple and areola typically have darker pigment than the surrounding breast their
color ranges from dark pink to dark brown, depending on the persons’s skin color
 During embryonic development, a milk line or ridge extends from each axilla to the groin
area.
Breast Quadrants

The breasts are divided by an invisible line running up and down and right to left through
the nipple. Each of these 4 regions is called a quadrant. Most breast cancers develop in the
upper outer quadrant of the breast, closest to the armpit. This is because this area has a lot
of glandular tissue.

INTERNAL BREAST ANATOMY

 Female breasts consist of 3 types of tissue :
o 1. Glandular tissue – functional part of the breast, allows milk production, lobes
radiate in a circular fashion from the nipple.
- Mammary Ducts – conveys milk to nipple.
o 2. Fibrous tissue – consists of bands called
- Cooper ligaments that provides support for granular tissue
o 3. Fatty tissue – glandular tissue is embedded here
- This determines size and shape of the breasts
- Functional capability of the breast is not related to size but rather to the
glandular tissue present
Amount of glandular, fibrous and fatty tissue varies according to the factors including the
client’s age body build, nutritional status, hormonal cycle, pregnancy or lactating
Lymph Nodes
The axillary lymph nodes or armpit lymph nodes drain lymph vessels from the lateral quadrants
of the breast, the superficial lymph vessels from thin walls of the chest and the abdomen above the
level of the navel, and the vessels from the upper limb.

Major axillary lymph nodes consist of the ff:

1. Anterior (pectoral) nodes: Drain the anterior chest wall and breasts
2. Posterior (subscapular) nodes: chest wall and part of the arms are drained by the
posterior nodes.
3. Lateral nodes: drain most of the arms, and the central nodes receive drainage from the
anterior, posterior and lateral lymph nodes
4. Infraclavicular (deltopectoral) nodes: small proportion of the lymph flows into deeper
nodes within the chest or abdomen
5. Apical and pectoral nodes are located respectively on the upper lower part of the
pectoralis minor a thin flat muscle of the chest
6. Central axillary lymph nodes located inside the adipose tissue near the armpit’s base