A one-year-old toddler from Jerusalem recently underwent a rare surgery due to an unusual condition for his age — gynecomastia, the development of abnormally large breast tissue. The surgery, performed at Hadassah Medical Center’s pediatric surgery department, was successful and the toddler has recovered.
The child's parents noticed unusual swelling in his chest as early as one week old. "The lump kept growing. We started going from one examination to another, hoping for answers," his mother recalled.
3 View gallery
Dr. Ahmad Zaid Al-Kilani and the toddler following the operation
(Photo: Hadassah Medical Center)
"We had regular check-ups with doctors, and at the same time hoped it would resolve on its own over the coming months. As time went by, when he turned one, the lump in his chest kept growing until it reached around 10 cm (4 inches) and we still didn't have an answer,” she added.
The parents were at their wit's end when they decided to visit Hadassah Medical Center, where they met Dr. Ahmad Zaid Al-Kilani, a pediatric surgery specialist. "The child arrived at the age of one with abnormal swelling in his right breast," Al-Kilani explained. "After conducting tests, I diagnosed him with gynecomastia, an abnormal growth of mammary glands seen in males, causing asymmetrical breast enlargement."
"This condition typically occurs in newborns, boys going through puberty and older men. It's caused by a hormonal imbalance between estrogen and testosterone, leading to increased breast tissue,” he added.
"I found no research-based evidence of this in the literature. I even consulted with professors who have over 40 years of experience in the field and none of them had ever encountered anything like this.”
“In newborns, this usually occurs due to hormones transferred from the mother to the baby and generally subsides within two to three weeks. Among adolescents, the condition typically resolves within six months to two years, while in older men, it usually appears between the ages of 50 and 80, with an average onset at age 65."
"In this case, it wasn't just a newborn but a toddler who had been experiencing this condition since he was a week old,” he said. “Unlike most cases, the breast tissue continued to grow throughout the first year of his life, reaching 10 cm (4 inches). The toddler was examined at various institutions and all said it was a normal condition that would resolve on its own. But he was no longer a newborn or an adolescent — he was a toddler, making this an exceptionally rare case."
How rare is it?
"I found no research-based evidence of this in the literature. I even consulted with professors who have over 40 years of experience in the field and no one had ever seen anything like this.”
“Even breast surgeons had never seen anything like it. That’s why I took it very seriously: I conducted imaging tests, including ultrasound and MRI, to rule out any malignancy in the body, and I scheduled him for surgery using a minimally invasive method after a month and a half,” he explained.
After completing the necessary medical tests, Al-Kilani performed the surgery on the toddler, which was highly successful. "During the operation, I made a small one-centimeter (0.4 inch) incision beneath the swollen area and removed the lump entirely. It measured about 6 to 8 cm (2.4 to 3.1 in). It was truly massive," he described.
"Afterward, we conducted various tests to identify the type of lump and found that it was benign rather than malignant. I didn't observe any asymmetry between the two breasts during the follow-up. The child's recovery has been smooth and satisfactory and I wish him a future of health and happiness,” he added.
The toddler's mother expressed her gratitude to Al-Kilani, saying, "We went through tests and consultations with various doctors for a year, and no one could give a definitive solution due to the rarity of the case. They probably didn't consider this possibility because of his young age. When we arrived at the hospital and met Dr. Al-Kilani, we felt we were in good hands immediately.”
“He took initiative and responsibility, was decisive, treated our son with sensitivity and care and successfully operated on him. I'm confident he spared him a lot of suffering in the future. Our son's condition was such that his growing breast was visibly abnormal. His life would have been difficult if he had grown up with this condition,” she added.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: