Before and after breast revision in a 45 year old woman. She had previously undergone bilateral nipple sparing mastectomies for a left breast cancer with submuscular implant reconstructions. She disliked the rippling and low position of the implants on her chest. She liked the large size and wanted to stay as full breasted as she was with this current reconstruction.
She was not a candidate for a flap reconstruction but was certainly a candidate for a breast revision. She did not want to have additional scars on her breasts and she did not mild the relatively low position of her nipples on her breasts.
Her revision of her reconstruction involved removing the previous old implants, replacement of her pectoralis major muscles to her chest wall, reconstruction of her inframammary folds and placement of the newest, most highly cohesive silicone gel breast implants on top of her chest muscles, in the “prepectoral” position.
Follow up photos are shown one year after surgery. Despite the location of her implants under her skin (not under the muscle), these slightly stiffer silicone gel implants have nearly imperceptible rippling. She has very little body fat so she is not a good candidate for fat grafting – unlike most women! Free fat grafting is often indicated for minor rippling, or visibility of the implant under the skin after mastectomy.
She is so happy to be rid of the “animation deformity”, also called the “flexion deformity” or “motion deformity” that describes movement of implants under the muscle. Her implants have an improved position on the chest which was remained stable over time. She is “finally able to move forward and not feel like a breast cancer patient”.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
