One of the most common questions that we receive from patients in consultation, is “Can I have my breast reconstructed after a lumpectomy and radiation therapy?”. The answer to this question is “yes”. However, the degree to which breast tissue can be rearranged might be limited, but there are definitely options. Radiation tends to cause capsular contracture when an implant…
Breast cancer reconstruction and aesthetic breast surgery share many similar principles. Removing breast implants and performing a breast lift (mastopexy) is a common procedure and may be a component of breast cancer treatment. In a patient with significant breast ptosis who undergoes a mastectomy for breast cancer, the nipple areola complex cannot often remain viable nor can it reliably be…
Secondary mastopexy augmentation is a mastopexy procedure in the previously augmented patient. After childbirth or breast feeding the breast becomes ptotic and occasionally the nipple areola complex can widen. In some patients depending on the strength and position of the pectoralis major muscle, the implants can become laterally displaced. After children, patients usually desire the nipple areola complex to be…
Secondary mastopexy, or mastopexy in previously augmented breasts presents unique challenges due to compromised blood supply to the nipple areola complex. Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI) with contrast can be used to facilitate pre-operative planning in both cosmetic cases and breast cancer patients. We had the opportunity to describe our experience using breast MRI in complicated aesthetic and reconstructive cases at…
Removal of breast implants is a very common procedure. There are many women who have had breast implants in for a long period of time and who would like to have their implants removed. As patients reach 40’s and 50’s it is quite common for patients to want to participate in yoga, pilates, or other excercises that require more mobility…
Mastopexy and abdominoplasty are a very powerful combination of procedures. Mastopexy involves lifting the nipple areola complex and some component of the parenchyma of the breast. Often a mastopexy may involve removing the lateral aspect of the breast tissue or “bra fat” to improve the contour of the breast. The mastopexy markings involve determining the position of the nipple areola…
Breast reduction surgery is often associated with a high patient satisfaction rate. Typically patients who wish to undergo breast reduction surgery have had symptoms of neck, back, or shoulder pain. There is often grooving in the shoulder from the bra straps and there is hypertrophy of the trapezius muscles. The large breasts can often get in the way of exercise…
Synmastia occurs when breast implants migrate to the center of the chest and cross the midline or when the two breast implant pockets join together. Correction of synmastia is challenging and often requires significant changes to the implant pocket and or change of plane of the mammary prosthesis in order to correctly re-position the breast implants on the chest wall.…
Breast implants can become dislodged or displaced from their surgical pocket. This can be the result of a trauma, surgery, radiation, or capsular contracture. Correction of the double-bubble deformity requires repositioning of the infra-mammary fold to its native location. Slightly decreasing the size of the mammary prosthesis can help with repositioning of the new breast implant pocket.
Mastopexy surgery is a surgery with a high satisfaction rate. In mastopexy surgery, the nipple areola complex is elevated to a higher position and the breast tissue that rests below the inframammary fold is re-positioned superiorly. This re-positioning makes the breast appear more youthful. Patients also report feeling more youthful with the new position of the breast. The satisfaction rate…
