Klinefelters
Posted in Dermatology on July 20, 2010
Interesting case: I consulted a gentleman about liposuction of male breasts (which, in medical jargon, is actually called gynecomastia). Gynocomastia is not all that uncommon and I have performed many liposuctions for this problem. Liposuction works quite well to flatten out the pectoral area with very little scarring and easy healing.
Anyway, upon closer questioning this patient (he has another disease that is usually seen in females), he tells me that he has had trouble growing facial hair and has some varicose veins... Examination revealed his small waist line and A-cup sized breasts.
Putting it all together I felt my patient had Klinefelter's syndrome. Klinefelter's syndrome is a condition where males have an extra X sex chromosome, giving the man the Karyotype of XXY instead of the usual XY. Klinefelter's occurs in about one out of every 500 to 1000 men, and.it is important to know of this genetic makeup because there are some medical problems that occur more often with this syndrome (eg, an increased risk of Diabetes, of breast cancer, of Lupus and of osteoporosis to name the most prominent.) You can read a bit more about Klinefelter's here. Another interesting day at the clinic.