Becker’s nevus with hypoplasia of the areola and nipple.

Abstract

Becker’s nevus begins early in life, sometimes at birth as in the present case, with a dark, hypermelanic stain to become much more evident or sometimes be noticed for the first time in the peripuberal period due to the appearance on the dark spot of terminal hairs. This finding, coupled with its increased frequency in males, suggests that the nevus is sensitive to androgens. The nevus is also characterized by hyperplasia of mesodermal connective and muscle tissue. The nevus may be associated with numerous defects and among these the most common is a hypoplasia of breast tissue (1), more evident in the few cases affecting females. Outstanding is the presence of hypoplasia of the male areola (2), and even more outstanding is the presence of inverted or flat nipple, ipsilateral to the nevus as in our case; these malformations have been attributed (2) to the functional imbalance between androgens and estrogens, the latter being responsible for the development of the breast.