Micro Fat Grafting Technique Implemented to Aid in Secondary Breast Reconstruction

 Micro Fat Grafting is a technique utilized to add volume in an area where a deficit occurs in addition to helping in rejuvenation and restore damages caused by radiation. This procedure utilizes the patient’s own fat that is harvested through manual micro liposuction techniques. The micro fat is removed, centrifused and  cleansed, and reinjected into the patient where the deficit exists. Common areas that this procedure targets are the face, hands, breast, and buttock.

Often times, following a mastectomy, the patient is left with a deficit in the upper chest wall. Resulting from this the patient is left with a lack of cleavage or sometimes even a sunken appearance to the upper chest. Utilizing fat grafting, these deficits can be filled out, and the patient left with a more natural contour.

Case: This patient is a 56 year old female who presented with displeasure with her chest wall following a mastectomy and implant placement. After a thorough evaluation and physical examination, I concurred with her complaint. My surgical advice was to utilize micro fat grafting techniques to help fill out the upper chest wall, and achieve natural cleavage for the patient.

 Surgery: I used the abdomen as the donor site for the micro fat grafts. With the use of micro fat grafting cannulas, I reintroduced approximately 55 cc of micro fat grafts to the upper chest wall on the right reconstructed breast and 115 cc on the left reconstructed breast. The breast expanders were replaced with smooth wall, high profile, silicone gel implants with a fill volume of 500 cc bilaterally. At the same time, I revised the left inframammary fold with inferolateral capsulotomy and right-sided capsulorraphy.