Ann Plast Reconstr Surg | Volume 3, Issue 4 | Research Article | Open Access

Are Breast Implant Manufacturers’ Volume Labels Scientifically Obsolete?

Fadel M Chahine^1*, Natasha Habr² and Bishara Atiyeh²

¹Department of Plastic Surgery, Trad Hospital Medical Center, Lebanon ²Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Lebanon

^*Correspondance to: Fadel M Chahine 

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Abstract

The manufacture of breast implants is surrounded by secrecy and proprietary technologies, with resultant differences among various brands. Upon choosing implants for a breast augmentation patient, we encountered the unexpected “fact” that two round implants produced by different manufacturers, with seemingly same advertised diameter and projection, had different claimed volumes. We set to make sense of this finding and compared the catalogues from two manufacturers to the theoretical calculations based on the presumed shape of the implants, whether a segment of a sphere or an oblate spheroid. While both manufacturers had labels “close” to the calculated volume, one of them was consistently more in-range. Yet, the differences that clearly exist from labeled volumes prove beyond doubt, that the breast implants manufacturers volume labels are scientifically obsolete, and should not be the primary factor in the preoperative decision-making.

Keywords:

Breast implants; Preoperative assessment; Breast augmentation

Citation:

Chahine FM, Habr N, Atiyeh B. Are Breast Implant Manufacturers’ Volume Labels Scientifically Obsolete?. Ann Plast Reconstr Surg. 2019; 3(4): 1039..