How much fat does it take to get upper pole fullness by fat transfer to the breasts?

Hello, thank you for your question.  Fat transfer is frequently done in conjunction with a breast lift for patients who do not want implants, and it's usually done to improve upper pole fullness.  The amount of fat needed depends on the size of your breasts and it varies among individuals.  If you have good quality of fat from your trunk or lower extremities, you should have a noticeable improvement on the upper pole after fat transfer.  Usually it requires anywhere from ~100-400cc on each breast depending on the size of the breasts and the desire of the patient.  The retention rate can be improved depending on how the fat is processed (my personal preference is using a Puregraft device) and how meticulous the surgeon is when injecting fat.  Hope that helps.Goretti H. Taghva MD

Thank you for your question. Fat transfer is generally used as an adjuvant therapy to implant or autologous reconstruction where there may be deficiencies in upper pole fullness or abrupt transitions from the chest wall to the implant. This can help create a more natural look. The amount of fat needed depends on what it is being used for, the size of the patient's chest wall, breast diameter and vertical breast distance. Fat is generally transferred from the abdomen or thighs, purified in some fashion on the back table and then transferred to the chest through small cannulas. Retention rates do vary in the published literature but most physicians will state approximately a 50% retention rate. This is all technique dependent - based on liposuction techniques, fat processing and re-injection methodology. Most patients need 2-3 treatments with fat grafting to get to the desired effect.

The amount of fat required to give you fullness over the upper pole depends upon your breast size, chest size, as well as height and body weight. Typically, 200-300 cc of fat would be sufficient but you have remember that not all injected fat would survive., and you also need to be prepared to have procedure repeated if the amount of fat is not sufficient.Best,