Subareolar lymphatic plexus

Subareolar lymphatic plexus, also known as Sappey's plexus is the lymphatic drainage of the areola of the breast. It is a dense network of lympatics located in the dermis. The subareolar plexus of Sappey communicated with the plexus of lymph nodes located in the deep fascia of pectoralis major muscle.

Clinical significance

Subareoloar lymphatic plexus is involved in the axillary spread of breast cancer to the surrounding organs.

In 1874, the French anatomist Marie Philibert Constant Sappey discovered the subareoloar lympatic plexus by injecting mercury into the dermis of the breast of a cadaver. Sappey's description became the theoritical basis for subareolar injection for lympatic mapping of the breast.