The ability to achieve attractive breasts has been a goal throughout time. Thinking about breast augmentation? You might be considering fat transfer, a procedure that uses liposuction to remove fat from one area of your body and inject it into your breasts for a fuller look. But is it the right choice for you? Let’s break down the pros and cons:
The Alluring Appeal of Fat Transfer:
- Natural Look and Feel: Since it’s your own tissue, fat grafting offers a softer, more natural appearance and texture compared to implants.
- Double Duty: Liposuction removes unwanted fat from areas like the stomach, thighs, or hips, while adding volume to your breasts. It’s essentially a body sculpting combo!
- Reduced Risk of Rejection: Your body won’t reject the transferred fat because it’s yours.
- Potentially Fewer Complications: Fat transfer generally has a lower risk of complications like capsular contracture (a tightening of scar tissue around the implant) that can occur with implants.
Considering the Downside of Fat Transfer:
- Limited Volume Increase: Fat transfer typically provides a subtler size increase, usually one or two cup sizes. If you desire a dramatic change, implants might be a better option.
- Sagging Isn’t Addressed: Fat transfer won’t necessarily lift sagging breasts. You may need a separate breast lift procedure for a perkier look.
- Multiple Procedures Possible: Achieving your desired results might require multiple fat transfer sessions, extending the overall cost and recovery time.
- Unpredictable Survival Rate: Not all transferred fat cells survive the process. The final volume might be less than anticipated.
Surgical breast enhancement is well over 100 years old as is fat transfer. The components of fat transfer include harvesting, methods of cell processing, methods of transplantation, and management of the recipient site.
Breaking down the fat transfer process into these components can help analyze and understand its positives and negatives. The term autologous refers to tissue from one’s own body. Autologous fat you would think would be perfect for use as enhancement material for breasts. However, the key factor concerning autologous fat transfer is survival. If you remove a cup of fat from your abdomen and move it to your breasts, this cup of fat will live.
Medicine and science have learned with great angst that survival depends on blood supply. In other words, if the segment of tissue cannot be guaranteed to have adequate circulation- it will necrosis and shrivel and die. Microsurgical techniques -that is the joining of at least one artery and preferably two veins from the donor to the recipient tissue can overcome this obstacle. But with fat cells, there are no practical ways to do this. The vessels are so small it is impossible at a cellular level to join them. Consequently survival fat is unpredictable and for the most part minimal.
There are mechanical and chemical attempts to enhance survival but to date have not achieved impressive results. It is important to understand that there is a difference between fat cell transfer as a volume and contour enhancement and stem cell transfer. To date, there is no known way to grow breasts with stem cells.
Furthermore, the volume is very limited and usually less than 250cc’s-at best- and most of which will disappear.
Therefore it is my firm opinion at this point in history with all of the science we have at our command— fat transfer a method of breast enhancement is a failure and a waste of time and money. . If you want your best-looking breasts— implants with or without a breast lift are in my opinion the optimal and most efficient way to achieve this.
THOMAS TREVISANI, MD
BOARD-CERTIFIED PLASTIC SURGEON
MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF AESTHETIC PLASTIC SURGERY
