New Evidence on What Women Can Expect after Breast Augmentation Surgery

New Evidence on What Women Can Expect after Breast Augmentation Surgery

For Immediate Release: 05/01/2013

Arlington Heights, Ill. - Ninety-eight percent of women undergoing breast augmentation surgery say the results met or exceeded their expectations, according to a prospective outcome study published in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Women also report improvements in self-esteem and quality of life after breast augmentation, according to the study by ASPS Member Surgeon Dr. Eric Swanson, a plastic surgeon in private practice in Leawood, Kan. The study adds high-quality information regarding expected outcomes after breast augmentation-including recovery time and psychological benefits.

98 Percent of Women Satisfied with Breast Augmentation Results
The survey study evaluated 225 consecutive women who returned for interviews at least one month after breast augmentation over a five-year period. Interviews included questions about the recovery, results, complications and psychological effects.

The average patient age was 34 years old, and the majority of women received saline-filled breast implants placed under the muscle. The average implant volume was 390 cc.

On a 10-point scale, the women reported an average pain score during recovery of 5.9. On average, they used prescription pain medication for five days and were off work seven days. Patients felt they were "back to normal" about 25 days after surgery.

Eighty-five percent of women rated their new breast size "just right." Thirteen percent would have preferred a larger size and less than two percent a smaller size. Only one percent expressed dissatisfaction with their scars, which were usually located in the crease under the breast. Seventy-five percent of women rated their breast firmness "just right." When asked to rate the result, over half of the patients gave it a perfect 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. Almost all patients (98 percent) reported that the results met or exceeded their expectations.

Increased Self-Esteem and Other Psychological Benefits
Nearly 40 percent of the women surveyed experienced at least temporary nipple numbness after surgery. Persistent numbness was reported by only two percent. The complication rate reported by patients was 10 percent. When asked about psychological effects, 92 percent of women reported improved self-esteem after breast augmentation and 64 percent reported an improved quality of life. Before surgery, the majority of women (86 percent) were self-conscious about their breasts. After surgery, only 13 percent were self-conscious about them.

Breast augmentation is the most popular cosmetic surgery procedure in the United States-approximately 286,000 operations were performed in 2012, according to ASPS statistics. The study results provide new information for women considering breast augmentation, particularly in terms of their expectations of the recovery and results. "This study is valuable in providing information from the patient's perspective, not the surgeon's," Dr. Swanson writes. "Patient satisfaction is the most important measure of surgical success."

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

Contact: Dr. Armen Vartany, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon 1510 South Central Avenue, Ste 620, Glendale, CA 91204-2598 (818) 500-0823 ‎ Vartany.com

Plastic surgery — it's a guy thing too

By Susan CarpenterLos Angeles Times

April 15, 2012

When John Tlapa looked in the mirror, his nose looked like he "could pick a door lock," he said. It resembled "a hook with a point on it. It was pretty ugly."

So two years ago, the San Diego-based screenwriter underwent rhinoplasty to improve his profile and fix a deviated septum that had plagued him for almost 40 years.

Tlapa, 54, is part of a trend that, in recent years, has seen increasing numbers of men seeking cosmetic surgery. In 2011, 9% of surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures in the U.S. were conducted on men, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery — a 121% increase since 1997.

While the number of cosmetic surgical procedures performed in the U.S. increased just 1% from 2010 to 2011, the number of males gettingliposuction and eyelid surgeries is on the rise. More than 41,000 lipoplasty procedures and almost 23,000 eyelid surgeries were performed on men in 2011, increasing 14% and 6%, respectively.

Women in recent years have been trending toward minimally invasive cosmetic treatments such as Botox and Restalyne, but the fastest-growing cosmetic procedures for men are surgical. Liposuction tops the list of most common cosmetic surgical procedures performed on men, followed by rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, male breast reduction andface-lifts.

"The taboo is lifting for men," said Renato Saltz, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Park City, Utah, who is also vice president of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. "In the past few years, plastic surgery is everywhere. All those nip-and-tuck shows have brought plastic surgery to a common ground."

As recently as a decade ago, "Patients would come in, have their surgery and hide for eight weeks. Nobody would talk about it," Saltz said. "Now you have your surgery in the morning, and in the afternoon you're talking to your friends. It's become a much more acceptable commodity."

A combination of medical, technological, economic and societal factors are contributing to the increase. Advances in anesthesia, in particular, have made many procedures available on an outpatient basis, negating the need for overnight hospital stays, reducing recovery times and allowing patients to get back to work more quickly. Just 18% of cosmetic surgeries were performed in hospitals last year, according to the ASAPS. The prevalence of makeover shows on television, and the wealth of information available over the Internet, has also contributed to plastic surgery's acceptance.

But the largest driver of the trend is the simple fact that such a sizable portion of the U.S. population is aging. People ages 35 to 64 account for 71% of all cosmetic procedures in the U.S., the country with the largest number of cosmetic procedures performed, according to the 2011 International Study of Aesthetic/Cosmetic Surgery Procedures.

"There's an increased trend of men over the last three or four years because of the economy," said Dr. Babak Azizzadeh of Beverly Hills, a Harvard-trained plastic surgeon who specializes in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery of the face, eyes and nose. "It's requiring that people look younger and more youthful. In the past, CEOs had to have a lot of gray hair. Now you see Mark Zuckerberg, these big entrepreneurs who are young. The reason eyelid and abdominal liposuction surgeries are so popular is because the eyelids and midsection are among the first parts of the body to show signs of age and among the most difficult to remedy without surgery," Azizzadeh said.

That was the experience of Stephen, a lipoplasty patient from Orange County who asked that his last name not be used for privacy reasons.

"I couldn't get rid of the fat," Stephen said. "I tried diets. I walked five days a week and worked out three, but it just accumulated and I couldn't get rid of it."

For five years, Stephen was embarrassed to wear a T-shirt because it revealed his fatty abdomen and chest.

"I love breasts. Just not on myself," said Stephen, who had thought about lipo for five years and finally bit the bullet in November when he had the time and money.

"There's a huge pressure on men to continue looking youthful," Azizzadeh said. "As a result, there's pressure on them to seek either surgical or nonsurgical procedures to maintain their youth."

susan.carpenter@latimes.com

Contact: Dr. Armen Vartany, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon 1510 South Central Avenue, Ste 620, Glendale, CA 91204-2598 (818) 500-0823 ‎ Vartany.com

Women claim breast implants saved their lives in separate incidents

Jim Leonardo

Two women are crediting their breast implants for potentially saving their lives in separate reports.

A 41-year-old Florida woman told WESH-TV in Brevard County, Fla., that her saline-filled breast implants saved her from a fatal wound after she was attacked at knifepoint by the new girlfriend of her ex-fiancé. The suspect first used a pocket knife to scratch the victim's car before stabbing the woman several times in the left side of her chest.

The woman, who was interviewed Feb. 6 on "Inside Edition," gave her name only as "Melissa."

"It happened so fast," Melissa said of the Jan. 26 incident. "I'm like, ‘Put down the knife.' I look down and I was covered in blood." She also was soaked by saline, WESH reported.

Her alleged assailant, Amy Winter faced charges of aggravated battery and criminal mischief as of Feb. 14, although those charges may be upgraded, according to a spokesperson for the 8th Judicial Circuit Court in Melbourne, Fla.

Meanwhile, in Houston, Brazilian model Sheyla Hershey claims her size 38KKK breasts saved her life when she drove her car into a tree after leaving a Super Bowl party on Feb. 4. Hershey, 33, told police she became dizzy while driving near her home before striking the tree.

"My implants saved my life, I'm very sore and I have some scratches on them, but I know I would have been badly hurt without them because they were very close to the steering wheel," she told radaronline. The airbags in her vehicle failed to deploy, according to reports.

Police charged her with DUI, but Hershey claims that road conditions contributed to the crash, the website states.

"It was raining and the roads were bad and the visibility was poor, there are no sidewalks," she told the website. "There was a rough crash into (one) tree then I panicked and reversed across the road and hit another tree."

Hersey had her record-setting 38MMM implants removed in 2010 after infection set in. She's informed news outlets that she plans to return to this size when she's physically ready.

Contact: Dr. Armen Vartany, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon 1510 South Central Avenue, Ste 620, Glendale, CA 91204-2598 (818) 500-0823 ‎ Vartany.com

CareCredit teams with plastic surgeons for ‘25 years of Caring'

PSN staff

04/23/2012 at 10:00AM

The ASPS-endorsed health-care credit card company CareCredit® is celebrating its 25th year of helping patients finance plastic surgical procedures and other medical options by announcing the "25 Years of Caring Sweepstakes," with a grand prize of $25,000 and 25 First Prizes of $1,000 each. The sweepstakes, which is open to CareCredit cardholders, began April 15 and will run through May 31. No purchase is necessary.

In addition to the cash prizes, the sweepstakes offers patients the chance to instantly win gift cards and additional sweepstakes entries.

"Over the past 25 years, CareCredit has been chosen by more than 20 million patients - we appreciate them and want to acknowledge how important they are to us," says CareCredit President Davod Fasoli. "Every person in our company realizes that we have a single purpose: help make health care accessible to patients. That's why we decided to celebrate our cardholders with the ‘25 Years of Caring Sweepstakes' as the highlight of our anniversary.

"This is a way for CareCredit to say ‘thank you' to our customers," Fasoli adds.

CareCredit has sent to all ASPS members a "25 Years of Caring" kit that includes special displays, flyers and social media links. Plastic surgeons who want to learn more about the sweepstakes - or order additional supplies - can go to carecredit.com/cardsweeps.

Patients in good standing with CareCredit receive an automatic sweepstakes entry, and those who use their card at any medical practice during the contest period will receive an additional entry. CareCredit cardholders also can enter via overland mail, e-mail, online and other methods. Cardholders can visit carecredit.com/cardsweeps for details.

Cardholders interested in the instant prizes entries should be directed to carecredit.com/25 to play "Scratch & Match."

Contact: Dr. Armen Vartany, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon 1510 South Central Avenue, Ste 620, Glendale, CA 91204-2598 (818) 500-0823 ‎ Vartany.com

Study Provides Data on 'Patient-Reported Outcomes' for Different Types of Silicone Implants

For Immediate Release: 02/28/2013

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Arlington Heights, Ill. - For women undergoing breast reconstruction using implants, most patient-reported outcomes are similar with two different shapes of silicone gel-filled implants, reports a study in the March issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Assessment of key areas of quality of life after breast reconstruction shows few significant differences with conventional round implants versus newer "shaped" implants, according to the new research, led by Dr. Sheina A. Macadam of University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

Does Implant Shape Affect Breast Reconstruction Outcomes?
The researchers evaluated patient-reported outcomes in women who underwent breast reconstructionwith implants after mastectomy for breast cancer. Reconstructions were done using two different types of silicone gel-filled implants: conventional round implants and anatomical "shaped" implants. The study included 65 women receiving round implants and 63 receiving shaped implants; the round implants all had a smooth surface, while the shaped implants had a textured surface.

The patients completed the BREAST-Q© questionnaire, which evaluated changes in several areas of health-related quality of life, including satisfaction with breasts and with overall outcome, psychosocial, sexual, and physical well-being, and satisfaction with care. Quality of life is increasingly regarded as an important factor in evaluating the benefits of various types of medical or surgical treatments.

Data on patient-reported outcomes was collected one to four years after breast reconstruction. About 80 percent of women in both groups had reconstruction immediately after mastectomy.

The BREAST-Q data showed good overall outcomes with both types of implants. Average scores for satisfaction with the overall reconstruction (on a 100-point scale) were approximately 77 for women receiving shaped implants and 75 for those with round implants. Scores for satisfaction with the breasts were about 64 in both groups.

Scores in other areas-including psychological and sexual well-being-were also similar for the two groups. Just one area differed significantly between groups: women with shaped implants rated their breasts as firmer than women with round implants.

Findings May Help to Guide Women's Choice of Implants
In a finding important to plastic surgeons, there was no difference in implant "rippling" between groups. Rippling, or wrinkling, had been a drawback of the first generation of shaped implants. Newer shaped silicone implants are not yet approved in the United States; clinical trials are underway.

New implants are introduced to the breast reconstruction market with limited data on the outcomes important to patients-especially in terms of how the reconstruction affects key areas of quality of life. "Patient-reported outcomes data is required to provide guidance based on previous patients' experience and satisfaction profiles," Dr. Macadam and colleagues write.

The new study finds few differences in patient-reported outcomes after breast reconstruction with round versus shaped implants. "[T]hese two types of silicone implants are equivalent in terms of satisfaction with outcome," according to the authors.

Dr. Macadam and colleagues point out the increased firmness of shaped implants as "the one notable difference" between the two types. They believe their findings will help surgeons inform patients about the expected outcomes of reconstruction using round versus shaped implants, and may help to guide introduction of the shaped implants for widespread use.

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

About ASPS

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is the world's largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons. Representing more than 7,000 Member Surgeons, the Society is recognized as a leading authority and information source on aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. ASPS comprises more than 94 percent of all board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States. Founded in 1931, the Society represents physicians certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery or The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. ASPS advances quality care to plastic surgery patients by encouraging high standards of training, ethics, physician practice and research in plastic surgery. You can learn more and visit the American Society of Plastic Surgeons at PlasticSurgery.org orFacebook.com/PlasticSurgeryASPS and Twitter.com/ASPS_News.

Contact: Dr. Armen Vartany, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon 1510 South Central Avenue, Ste 620, Glendale, CA 91204-2598 (818) 500-0823 ‎ Vartany.com

Before Deciding on Breast Implants, Consider FDA Precautions

Before Deciding on Breast Implants, Consider FDA Precautions




Contact:Dr. Armen Vartany, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon1510 South Central Avenue, Ste 620, Glendale, CA 91204-2598 (818) 500-0823 ‎ Vartany.com

plastic surgery

New Breast Implant Holds Its Shape

BY JOAN KRON, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR AT LARGE, FEBRUARY 22, 2013, 1:00:00 PM

Contact: Dr. Armen Vartany, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon 1510 South Central Avenue, Ste 620, Glendale, CA 91204-2598 (818) 500-0823 ‎ Vartany.com

Statistics on breast implants rise and fall like heaving bodices in romance novels. Last year there were 7 percent fewer breast augmentations than in 2011, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Still, with 286,000 procedures performed, augmentation remained the number one cosmetic operation, topping nose jobs, liposuction, eye-lifts, and face-lifts. The introduction this week of a long-awaited new implant may swell those augmentation numbers even more.

Twenty four years after it was designed by Texas plastic surgeon John Tebbetts, and with two decades of clinical trials involving some 4,000 patients behind it, Allergan’s Natrelle 410—already popular in Europe and Canada—has now been approved for use in the United States by the FDA.

What distinguishes the 410 is its gently sloped teardrop shape and firm filling made of highly cohesive silicone gel. If cut in half, the implant will not ooze or lose its shape, yet it's still soft to the touch.

Steven Teitelbaum, a Santa Monica plastic surgeon, has placed 410s in at least 500 patients during clinical trials. “Because it is thinner at the top and fuller at the bottom, it looks more like a real breast,” he says. “The breast looks 'shaped,' not stuffed, and the implant doesn’t produce an upper shelf or fold or ripple.” (Teitelbaum is a former consultant to Allergan—he wrote the instructions for surgeons for the 410—but he currently has no financial relationship with the company.) This is the second FDA-approved so-called gummy bear implant, following a model from Sientra that won clearance last year.

Along with the 410’s benefits come a few trade-offs, says Teitelbaum. The implant is best inserted through an incision under the breast, rather than in a less conspicuous place such as the armpit or at the edge of the nipple. In addition, the 410 incision is longer than those for saline-filled or less viscous silicone gel implants, which can be folded for insertion. Some patients with soft breast tissue may find the implants firm, but they are not so rigid that they “point to the sky" when a patient is lying on her back, Teitelbaum says.

One common misconception is that this silicone implant cannot break. That's not technically true, since ruptures have occurred on rare occasions after years of stress or as a result of damage to the implant when it is initially placed, he says. And even the best design and care can be undone if a patient doesn't allow her incision to fully heal for six weeks. In one early case, a patient suffered what is known as rotation when her implant shifted in place after two weeks. “She was feeling so good, she went water skiing,” says Teitelbaum.