Does Fat Transfer to Breasts Interfere with Mammography?

Question

Hi, I recently received a benelli lift with implants (I exchanged 350 cc implants to 250 cc implants - I wanted to go smaller) and the physician put some fat around a portion of the breasts. Does fat transfer to breasts interfere with mammography?

Dhaval M. Patel, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question. It is obvious that fat grafting causes changes that are visible on mammograms. There is increasing evidence that those changes are equivalent to changes seen from other breast surgery, such as breast reductions. They are able to determine the differences between post operative calcifications and breast cancer changes. It does not make sense to cite mammographic changes as a reason not to fat graft. Best of luck!Dhaval M Patel. Double board certifiedPlastic surgeonHoffman EstatesBarringtonOakbrookChicago

Vincent N. Zubowicz, MD · Answer

Fat injections can be detected by mammography but are not confused with breast cancer. Fat grafting for breast augmentation is for the moment unconventional.

Thomas Fiala, MD, FACS, FRCSC · Answer

This is a very interesting topic.  While it seems that fat transfer does indeed make some mammographic changes, these changes are no worse than the changes one might see after breast reduction surgery - a very routine and accepted surgery -  and an experienced radiologist can usually sort these out, without a problem.

	 

	All the best,

Pouria Moradi, MBBS, FRACS · Answer

The imaging technology has improved leaps and bounds and so too has the ability of radiologists to detect benign scarring after surgery and breast malignancy.

	Prior to fat grafting becoming popular again women would undergo breast reduction surgery and other breast procedures (which cause much more scarring and fat necrosis than fat grafting.) In these cases radiologist could still differentiate between tumour and scar.

	The important thing for you is that the fat grafting to camouflage implants is done either in a subcutaneous or subglandular plane, and not directly into the breast tissue. So should there be any suspicious lesions they will be away from the glandular tissue.

	 

	Hope this helps.

Steven Wallach, MD · Answer

Fat transfer can cause differnt changes on the mammogram that a trained radiologist should be able to differentiate from a cancer.

David Janssen, MD, FACS · Answer

In a word, yes. When fat is transferred, some of the fat lives and some of it dies. When the fat dies it can become calcific. A good mammographer can tell the difference between calcific fat and breast cancer but the current literature is mostly based on smaller volumes of fat transfer. The Jury is still out on what will be seen on large fat volume (breast augmentation) transfers. Certainly the technique used in the fat transfer can also change the amount of tissue that survives.

Jourdan Gottlieb, MD · Answer

The fat does not interfere with mammography per se (while the implants themselves do), but there can be changes in the fat that are visible on the mammogram. It would be most unusual, though, for the mammographer to have trouble making a benign diagnosis or the common changes that can occur. 

	Best wishes.

Does Fat Transfer to Breasts Interfere with Mammography?

Answers (7)

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