Background: Breast augmentation is an operation whose effect is completely derived from the use of an implant. The push of the implant on the overlying breast tissue creates the size and to some degree the shape of the breast that results. While a women’s natural breast tissues do play a role in how the augmented breast will look, that contribution depends on the quantity and quality of these tissues.
Breast implants, whether they be saline or silicone, have historically been semi-round in shape. This seems logical since the breast can be perceived as somewhat of an oval shape. In addition, as the implant moves around in the breast pocket it is important that it keeps the same shape to prevent an external breast deformity.
While round breast implants work for the majority of women, there are some women who do not like the look they create. Specifically they prefer a resultant breast shape that has less upper pole fullness. They feel that too much fullness in the upper pole looks unnatural and produces an obvious ‘augmented’ look. This concern is more commonly seen in ‘older’ women, particularly greater than 40 years of age. Many younger breast augmentation patients actually prefer the rounder breast look and do not mind looking like they have implants.
The introduction of the shaped breast implant offers an option for the woman who wants the most natural looking breast augmentation result. Going by a variety of names, such as anatomic, tear drop or shaped breast implant, these newer breast implant styles are differentiated from their round counterparts by one side of the implant being fuller than the other. With two-thirds of the implant volume being in the larger lower part of the implant, less upper pole fullness is assured.
Case Study: This 40 year-old female wanted to restore her breast size that was lost after having children. Her biggest fear about getting breast implants was that she would look unnatural and look like she had obvious breast implants. For these reasons she was attracted to the shaped breast implant style.
Under general anesthesia, 3.5 cm skin incisions was made 1 cm below her existing inframammary folds. Using Sientra shaped textured silicone gel breast implants of 330cc size, they were inserted using a no-touch technique with a funnel in the dual plane position.
Her recovery was very rapid and by three weeks after surgery she had returned to all physical activities. Even at this early point after surgery, she never developed any significant upper pole fullness even with the typical swelling that occurs after breast augmentation.
Shaped silicone breast implants offer a more natural breast augmentation result for those women that view a tear drop breast shape as desireable. Shaped implants will feel a bit more firm than smooth silicone implants and will be fairly fixed to their position on the chest wall. These features are due to the textured surface of the implant.
Case Highlights:
1) The use of shaped or tear drop implants for elective breast augmentation is to prevent an overly round or unnatural look.
2) Shaped breast implants have a textured surface to prevent implant rotation in the pocket and must be placed through an inframammary approach.
3) The placement of shaped breast implants must be precise as there will be little settling afterwards.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana