Before and after bilateral breast revision in a 40-year-old woman. Her previously placed breast implants had contracted, assuming an unnatural shape. Since she did not have pain associated with this capsular contracture it was graded as a Grade III.
Grade I on the Baker capsular contracture scale means the breast(s) are normal, soft and symmetric without any deforming scar tissue around a breast implant; Grade II indicates hardness but no deformity or pain; Grade III contracture shows asymmetry or deformity/malposition; and Grade IV is associated with pain in addition to all the other features listed already.
Her revision involved bilateral capsulectomy to remove constricting scar tissue and implant exchange. Her old saline implants were exchanged for the latest silicone devices. A mastopexy lifted the nipples and raised them subtly but maintained a look that she specifically wanted – “not too perky or fake.”
After surgery, she began implant massage early on to keep the implant mobile in its new larger pocket. Follow up photos are shown 1 year after surgery with a significantly improved, natural-looking result.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
