What is it about?
Pioneered at the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery in 2012, the BODY LIFT Flap® breast reconstruction procedure provides a solution for rebuilding the breasts with natural living fat when a double mastectomy is performed in a thin woman. Similar to the Stacked FlapSM, the BODY LIFT Flap® breast reconstruction technique gives added size and projection to the new breasts when single donor site tissue is not enough. In women with less body fat, the layering or “stacking” of available donor tissue to rebuild the breasts after bilateral mastectomy can restore shape and size beyond that of ordinary flap procedures. A BODY LIFT Flap® incision design in the waist gives both a tummy tuck reshaping and a lift of the buttocks in the donor site. The added careful preservation of muscle structure and strength provide for overall long-term results that are groundbreaking.
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Why is it important?
Mastectomy is becoming more common as a means of treating breast cancer of all stages. The side effects of radiation that comes with lumpectomy are often avoidable when all of the breast tissue is removed rather than just the “lump”. When combined with preservation of all of the external breast skin, including the nipple, a living tissue rebuild of the breast can deliver outcomes that are soft, natural, warm, and permanent. In women with less body fat, the layering or “stacking” of available donor tissue to rebuild the breasts after bilateral mastectomy can restore shape and size beyond that of ordinary flap procedures. This technology can also be used for breast reconstruction when preventive mastectomy is chosen for breast cancer risk reduction (BRCA genetic mutation, etc.)
Perspectives
Modern breast reconstruction can preserve the entirety of the external breast, including the nipple. When living tissue is then used to rebuild the “interior” of the breast, the reconstructed breast can be indistinguishable from a breast that has never been surgically touched. These advancements are groundbreaking and very important for women with breast cancer, and those who are considering preventive mastectomy, to be knowledgeable about. Breast implants are known to have a high complication rate and ~15-20% are found to have ruptured and leaked by 8 years following placement. Natural tissue breast reconstruction produces a better quality breast that is permanent.
Dr. Frank J. DellaCroce
Center for Restorative Breast Surgery
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Body Lift Perforator Flap Breast Reconstruction, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, March 2012, Wolters Kluwer Health,
DOI: 10.1097/prs.0b013e31824127fc.
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