Disorders of the male breast

Treatment of gynecomastia is a treatment not only of a disease process itself but, in fact, a search for an underlying systemic disease process. More often than not, the gynecomastia is idiopathic and can be treated with observation or surgical excision; however, the area of concern must first and foremost be distinguished from a cancer. Second, the gynecomastia must be proved not to be the result of an ongoing systemic process that needs to be addressed. The evaluative process, with history and physical examination, is of the utmost importance, after which a metabolic work-up can be done to search for and find the underlying cause of the gynecomastia.