What Is Symmastia, and How Is It Corrected?
When two implant pockets connect across the midline the breasts appear to merge, and repair means rebuilding the wall between them stitch by stitch.
Symmastia — patients sometimes call it a uniboob — happens when the tissue anchoring the skin to the breastbone is released too far during pocket dissection, or when implants too wide for the chest press the two pockets together. The skin lifts off the sternum and the cleavage line disappears into one continuous mound.
Rebuilding the midline
Correction is a reconstruction of the medial pocket wall: the surgeon closes off the over-dissected space with layered internal sutures — a medial capsulorrhaphy — and often narrows the implants or moves them to a fresh plane so the repair is not immediately stressed. In thin patients the tissue may be reinforced with a supportive matrix, since suture repairs in delicate tissue hold differently from one person to the next.
Symmastia rarely improves on its own, and re-stretching is the main enemy of the repair — expect a supportive bra or a strap between the breasts during early healing. Because this is one of the technically demanding revisions, take the diagnosis to a specialist with revision experience and ask specifically how the midline will be held while it heals.
MediIndex articles are for general information only and are not medical advice, diagnosis, or advertising. Outcomes vary by individual — consult a board-certified specialist for personal decisions.