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Poly-4-hydroxybutyrate reinforces soft tissue support in mastopexy
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Poly-4-hydroxybutyrate scaffold appears to optimize soft tissue support in central mound mastopexy, according to study results published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
The single-site study included 11 patients undergoing central mound mastopexy between July 2012 and December 2013 using a poly-4-hydroxybutyrate scaffold placed in the lower pole of the breast. The researchers used the GalaFLEX (Galatea, Lexington, Massachusetts) resorbable product.
Patient age ranged from 31 to 50 years. Mean preoperative breast volume was 514 cc (range, 360-650 cc) and mean postoperative volume was 477 cc (range, 375-700 cc). The patients underwent 3-D breast scanning preoperatively and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively. One patient was lost to 12-month follow-up.
The greatest change over the first year occurred in the distance from the nipple to the inframammary fold, which was a mean of 0.8 cm or 9.58% (P = .003). The stretch between a fixed point, the sternal notch and the lowest point on the breast, was a mean of 1.39 cm or 5% (P = .03), with the majority of the lower pole stretch occurring in the first 3 months. The stretch between the measured sternal notch to the lowest point on the breast was only a mean of 6.5 mm during the last 9 months (P = .15).
There were no statistically significant changes for the following distances during the last 9 months: sternal notch to nipple, nipple to lowest point on the breast and sternal notch to lowest point on the breast.
Mean nipple projection from the chest wall measurement was 4.85 cm at 1 month and 4.81 cm at 3 months (P = .18), with only a change of 0.28 cm in the last 9 months (P = .13).
Mean breast volume decreased by 10% over the first year (P = .095) with the upper pole volume dropping by 9.7% within the first 3 months. There were statistically significant different values at month 1 and month 3 for the upper pole (P = .0031) and the lower pole (P = .01) volumes. Also statistically different was the 8.9% reorganization in the upper and lower breast volume within the last 9 months (P = .008).
“The use of the poly-4-hydroxybutyrate resorbable scaffold is very promising for use in procedures where the tissue itself has failed and typically cannot optimally support the breast,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: Adams reports he received reimbursed research costs for the study and was an unpaid consultant for Galatea. Please see the full study for the other researcher’s relevant financial disclosures.
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