Fat Transfer to the Breast can be a Useful Technique During Mastopexy, Raleigh*

This 48-year-old woman had some breast asymmetry and desired breast lifting. She did not want implants and was hopeful to improve symmetry of her breasts with fat transfer. Her area of concern for the liposuction was her trochanteric area (also known as saddlebags.) She underwent vertical mastopexy with fat transfer to the left breast to improve symmetry as her left breast was smaller than the right and she did not want to go smaller than the right side. Approximately 300 cc of fat was removed from each trochanteric area with PAL and the fat processed and delivered to the left breast during the surgery. Fat transfer can be a useful tool during mastopexy to improve volume and symmetry. Special techniques are needed to ensure good quality fat and avoidance of over injection must be performed on the breast as complications like oil cysts, calcifications and fat necrosis can occur with overzealous injection. Fat transfer for primary breast augmentation rarely achieves the same sort of results that breast implants can provide as the amount of fat that can be injected is limited and must be distributed throughout the breast to increase volume. In the past, the BRAVA device was found to be useful as it stretched out the breast prior to fat transfer but this is a cumbersome process and very few plastic surgeons offer this technique. FAT transfer still remains a useful in breast reconstruction and cosmetic procedures but must be done cautiously to avoid complications.