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Suspensory ligaments of breast: anatomy, location and function

The suspensory ligaments are fibrous bands that support the breast. They divide the breast into compartments and hold it in shape.

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Highlighted in the model: Suspensory ligaments of breast. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. Use Male / Female to switch bodies. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science; knee ligaments, menisci, tonsils, palate and parotid glands from the Human Reference Atlas Visible Human Male model and female parts from its Visible Human Female model (HuBMAP / NIH); lung lobes built from the BodyParts3D chest; all CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The female body shares the male skeleton, muscles and organs except its pelvis, reproductive organs, breasts, bladder, urethra and skin.

Suspensory ligaments of breast at a glance

Also called
Cooper's ligaments
What it is
The suspensory ligaments are fibrous bands that support the breast.
Location
They run through the breast from the deep fascia over pectoralis major to the dermis of the overlying skin.
Function
They divide the breast into compartments and hold it in shape.
Body system
Reproductive · paired (left and right) · female body
FMA ID
FMA73119 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • They stretch with age, weight changes and pregnancy, which contributes to sagging (ptosis).

Clinical relevance

A cancer that invades and shortens these ligaments pulls the skin inward, causing dimpling.

Structures next to the suspensory ligaments of breast

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Suspensory ligaments of breast (FMA73119). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §27.2 Anatomy and Physiology of the Ovarian Reproductive System (The Breasts). Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
  4. Browne K., Schlehlein H. 3D Reference Organ Set for United, Female (Visible Human Female). Human Reference Atlas 3D Reference Object Library, HuBMAP / NIH. Data from the NLM Visible Human Project. CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.