What is the Actual Cost of Alloderm Vs. Strattice?

You are correct in that Alloderm and Strattice can both be used to help "buffer" the tissues of the breasts in order to conceal implant rippling.  These are both dermal products, one from humans and the latter from pigs, that are used mostly in breast reconstruction but have recently been used more frequently for cosmetic breast revision cases.  In breast reconstruction, when there is no breast tissue remaining, the Alloderm is used on top of the implant to help conceal it better and hold it in position underneath the muscle.  The same can be used for cosmetic implants when the tissue overlying the implant is very thin and the implant is palpable.  If this is the reason for the rippling you are having, then placing Alloderm or Strattice over the implant and attaching this into the lower breast fold and muscle above will provide support and substance to better conceal the implant.

The costs of these materials are expensive (Alloderm much more than Strattice) but this may be the only option left for some people with bad implant rippling and palpability.  Make sure you have a well measured and correctly sized Silicone implant in currently.  If not, you may want to first switch your current implant to a submuscular position and exchange it for silicone if you have saline implants in currently.  Just a few of the many answers you should have for the plastic surgeon who you will see for the consultation.  Hope this helps- Erez Sternberg, MD

Thank you for your question.

Pricing of both products depends on the size of the piece being used.

AlloDerm is produced from donated human skin. It is handled in much the same way as other transplantable organs. The tissue is processed to remove cells that might cause your body to reject the foreign tissue or react negatively to it. What’s left is the collagen structure (fiber-like proteins) and other proteins naturally found in skin. This structure acts as a frame for your tissue to grow into and around.

AlloDerm is frequently used in conjunction with symmastia repair, capsular conjunction, pocket correction and many other revisionary breast surgeries.

Strattice is not human derived and therefore usually less expensive.

The cost depends on the size and thickness of the piece. Alloderm is a little bit more stretchy and is used mostly for reconstruction cases where this could be an advantage. Strattice is a little bit thicker and could be a better choice for rippling, but every situation is different.