How much fat needs to be removed via liposuction for breast augmentation with fat transfer?

Question

I’m 46yrs old, small framed 5’1” 110lbs after a 10lb weight gain. Looking to go up from a barely an A to a nice B without looking like I have implants. Basically, do I have enough fat?

Kenneth Hughes, MD · Answer

In general, 200 cc per breast is typically the upper limit of fat injection recommended by most plastic surgeons.  It is not that more cannot be injected; but on average, this has been determined to be the most that can be expected to live during one transfer.  Multiple transfers would be required for additional cc's.  In general, the abdomen and thighs are preferred donor sites.Some of the retention rate will depend upon the amount of fat transferred, as smaller volumes will likely have a higher survival.  Occasionally, a patient can resorb a great deal of the fat despite optimal transfer procedures. I typically transfer from 250 cc to 400 cc or so per breast.  Thinner patients are outstanding candidates in my opinion, because the fat transferred is extremely resistant.  Results are largely dependent upon the skill of the surgeon, his/her ability to remove fat without creating contour deformities, and your expectations. You would need a consultation to determine the available fat stores.
Kenneth Hughes, MD, ABPS Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
Los Angeles, CA

Robert Cohen, MD · Answer

You need a formal evaluation by a licensed plastic surgeon and expert in breast augmentations to determine what is best for you and your goals.Proper breast enlargement is not a "cookie-cutter" procedure where the same technique is applied to every patient. Every woman who comes to my practice has unique needs and different goals for her breast augmentation. As a board-certified plastic surgeon, I always listen carefully to each woman's concerns and thoroughly discuss the key points of the procedure. For those women who prefer a "Natural Breast Augmentation" without implants, fat grafting is a safe, natural, and minimally invasive approach that offers low-maintenance, long-term improvement in size and contour. After harvesting the fat from your body, we purify and enrich the fat before injecting it in the desired areas to improve volume and shape.
My experience performing thousands of aesthetic breast surgeries in a wide anatomical range of patients enables me to achieve consistently beautiful and natural results that are customized to each patient’s body type and goals. These results are the product of extensive communication, meticulous planning, and skillfully executed surgery.
I suggest consulting with a board-certified plastic surgeon and expert in Breast Augmentation surgeries. - Dr. Cohen

Rajat Gupta, MD, MS, DNB · Answer

Now understand when we do breast augmentation with fat transfer, we can safely put 300-350 cc of fat on each side. This means we need 700 cc of good fat, which means, we need to extract 1-1.2 liters of fat from any other body area which can be purified to 750 cc of good pure fat.

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear wendyj19,
it is hard to tell exactly how much fat you will need in order to get one bra cup increase in size. Most plastic surgeons will agree that you will probably need between 200-400 cc of fat. If you are considering a surgery, I would suggest you to consult a board-certified plastic surgeon. Only after a thorough examination you will get more information and recommendations.
Daniel Barrett, MD

Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Lawrence Iteld, MD · Answer

To increase a full cup size, I estimate that we would require about 400cc per side to account for 30-40% resorption during the months after surgery. While you as still quite thin, we may be able to harvest enough fat from multiple areas, but an in-person examination would be required to assess donor sites.

Connie Hiers, MD, FACS · Answer

You will need to be examined to see if you do have enough fat for a transfer. Gaining weight just to get enough fat to transfer is not advised since you then may loose the fat as to return to your normal weight.

Paul B. Mills, MD · Answer

Patients will typically require 300 to 400 mL of fat for each breast in order to go up approximately one cup size. This is definitely more challenging in some patients if their body fat percentage is relatively low. However, the majority of patients do you have enough fat for this volume. It simply may require multiple donor sites instead of just one or two. Follow up with a plastic surgeon for a full evaluation to better determine which areas might be of use. Good luck!

Maida Parkins, MD · Answer

On average you need about 200cc of fat to increase a cup size.  However to end up with 200cc, 400cc will need to be injected as there is about a 50-60% retention rate of the fat.  So about 800cc total.  Typically if enough donor sites are used enough fat can be harvested but an in-person consultation would be the best way to determine this.  The other factor is the size of your breasts right now- your breast needs to be able to accept 400cc of grafted fat and if you’re barely an A you may require more than one session of fat grafting to achieve your goal.  Please take goal photos to your consultation so your surgeon can let you know if your goal is achievable.  Best wishes!

Daniel Del Vecchio, MD · Answer

In general, the volume of 3 to 400 mL per side would be what I would envision for your surgery. I have performed thousands of fat transplantation procedures and the average is about this much. We can usually find this amount of fat even in a thin patient of your height and weight. Please see attached references. Best regards

Karol A. Gutowski, MD, FACS · Answer

You really need to be seen in person for a proper assessment of where the fat can be transferred from. If you gained 10 lbs just for this, and then you lose the 10 lbs later, you will also lose it in the breasts. See link below for examples.

How much fat needs to be removed via liposuction for breast augmentation with fat transfer?

Answers (10)

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