Ruth Prieto Gómez; Víctor Aparicio Cea; Gonzalo Aguayo Arriagada; Valentina Bastidas Valenzuela; Francisca Moraga Poblete; Nicolás E. Ottone & Araceli Saavedra Sepúlveda

The mammary gland has its embryological origin, later it differentiates histologically and anatomically; over time new findings have been discovered, as well as new terminology. The aim of this work was to describe the update on the morphological aspects of the mammary gland. A search for articles was carried out in different primary and secondary sources of scientific literature such as: Pubmed, Embase, WOS, Scopus, Scielo, obtaining 623 publications, 53 selected for review and 17 included. The breast has been updated in morphological aspects; the ducts are located close to the areola and the nipple where they open directly, the branches of the ducts are located close to the areola; the nipples have between 15 and 20 lobes, of which only 5- 9 are true mammary duct orifices, there are no lactiferous sinuses, so the milk flows directly into the nipple, in terms of innervation of the breast they are innervated by the anterior and lateral cutaneous branches of the intercostal nerves. The existing evidence demonstrates the need for permanent studies in the field of morphology, as described in this review article on the breast. In different aspects, such as terms, functions and structures. This information is important for undergraduate and postgraduate training, and its use in the clinic, identification of pathologies, lactation clinics, among others.

KEY WORDS: Mammary gland; Morphology; Histology; Anatomy; Breastfeeding.

PRIETO, G. R.; APARICIO, C. V.; AGUAYO, A. G.; BASTIDAS, V. V.; MORAGA, P. F.; OTTONE, N. E.; SAAVEDRA, S. A. Morphological aspects of the breast. A literature review. Int. J. Morphol., 41(6):1802-1807, 2023.