Boston — A procedure that combines autologous fat transfer with a presurgery tissue expansion technique can increase breast size by as much as twofold, Medical News Today reports.
According to a new study published in the June issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the procedure builds on previous fat-transfer techniques to provide excellent outcomes in breast-enhancement surgery. The patient first undergoes several weeks of treatment with a bra-like device that uses gentle negative pressure to gradually expand the breast. The additional space is then “backfilled” with liposuctioned fat.
Medical News Today quotes Boston plastic surgeon and study co-author Daniel Alexander Del Vecchio, M.D., and colleague Louis Paul Bucky, M.D., of Philadelphia, as saying, “Pre-expansion to the breast allows for mega-volume (over 300 cc) grafting with reproducible, long-lasting results that can be achieved in less than two hours.”
For the study, the authors used the procedure on 46 breasts of 25 women. Some of the patients wanted to increase their breast size or to replace implants; others were seeking treatment for certain types of breast deformities. On average, about 300 cc of fat was transplanted per treated breast.
When evaluated after six months, the women had significant improvements in breast size and shape. On average, the treated breasts approximately doubled in size, with a “soft and natural ... appearance and feel,” the authors wrote. Follow-up MRIs revealed no cysts, masses or other abnormalities.
In view of questions as to whether such fat transfer procedures interfere with mammographic screening for breast cancer, the authors noted that further research is needed to assess safety issues.
