The below question is answered by Charleston breast surgeon Dr. James Craigie of The Center for Natural Breast Reconstruction.(opens in a new tab)I had a bilateral mastectomy and had 850cc silicone implants placed after tissue expansion. I am not happy at all with the result as I had radiation on the right side and that breast is considerably smaller than the left. I am also not happy with the shape and look of the breasts with silicone implants. I currently wear prosthetics in my bra to achieve symmetry and a normal shape. Even with the bra and the prosthetics I am not happy with the result. I am currently a D/DD and would like to maintain that size. Given this situation, could I be a candidate for a DIEP or Stacked DIEP breast reconstruction(opens in a new tab)? Thank you for your question. I’m sorry you are having some concerns about the shape and evenness of your breast reconstruction. Because you had radiation on the right side it is almost certain that the two sides will be different to some degree regardless of the type of reconstruction. Unfortunately, when this occurs with implant techniques it is usually more noticeable and nearly impossible to fix long-term as long as the implants are in place. The reason for this is the implants will be treated as foreign material by your body and the right side will always react more severely due to previous radiation even if radiation was done before the mastectomy(opens in a new tab). Also, the process of scar formation continues as long as the implants are in place, making the firmness, shape change, and stiffness more noticeable to you as time goes by. These are the reasons that women who have implant reconstruction have multiple procedures to revise results as time passes. Fortunately when someone has had problems of this nature with implants we can frequently solve them by removing the implants and replacing them with their own fatty tissue (DIEP, stacked DIEP). We can do this without taking tummy or back muscles. Immediately the fatty tissue takes on a more natural shape compared to implants. Thirty percent of my patients have had failed implants before we start over and use their own tissue. My opinion and answer to your question is that you could have a DIEP(opens in a new tab) to replace your implants and I can usually predict that many of the implant problems are much improved immediately after the surgery. I cannot predict what size you would be without seeing you but the size depends on how much extra tummy tissue you have as well as any previous surgery. I hope I have answered your questions. —James Craigie MD(opens in a new tab)
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