Can You Replace Breast Implants with Stem Cell Fat Transfer?

I was told this can only be done in two separate operations 6 months apart. The first to remove the implant and rebuild the muscle and once that's healed we can proceed with the fat transfer. I'm hesitant because I don't want to live with deflated breasts for that long. Any other options?

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4 Doctor Answers | Asked by bimba in ch

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Can You Replace Breast Implants with Stem Cell Fat Transfer?

It depends on the type of implant: silicone or saline. I recently completed this on a patient and removed 250cc implants and in two operations have added a toltal oof 300 cc which has survived (total of 700 injected)

Otto Joseph Placik, MD

32 reviews

Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Fat grafting instead of breast implants

There are some early results that some doctors are showing with fat injection to the breast which may be promising, but I do not think that it will replace breast implants in most patients. It may require several procedures and cost a lot more money than implnats.

Steven Wallach, MD

12 reviews

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Breast Augmentation with Fat Grafts is far from perfected yet

Unless there is a reason why you need to have your implants removed, I would advise you not to do so. Breast Augmentation with fat grafting is in its infancy and is far from being an established technique. It is used either in first time breast augmentations or in breast reconstruction. The breasts need to be prepared for grafting with several weeks of being subjected to high vacuum (a device called BRAVA) which literally creates more blood vessels in the breasts. A lot of women do not... more

Fat transfer not a viable option for implant replacement

Although a lot of progress has been made in techniques for fat transfer to enlarge the breasts, it has not been used for one-stage implant replacement. When fat is grafted into the breasts, whether it has stem-cells or not, it must be placed in tiny droplets spread throughout healthy tissue that has a blood supply so the fat cells can live. An implant is one large mass, so you can't just remove it and fill the space with fat. That is why you need the healing time after implant... more