WTP8.9 3D volume assessment as an objective tool in breast asymmetry management

Abstract

Abstract Background The normal symmetrical appearance of the breast is a vital. It can be psychologically distressing to patients and affects their body perception when these differences are obvious. The goal of breast surgeons is minimising these differences to make them more acceptable to patients. Methods This study was done on 20 females seeking breast asymmetry correction. Age ranged from 18 to 45 years (mean age: 30.4). All patients had volumetric breast assessment using a (3D) imaging system (3D LifeViz®, Quantificare system). The first 10 patients were chosen randomly for breast (MRI) volumetry to confirm the results of the 3D system. The patients were managed with different single-stage surgical procedures depending upon the objective assessment of the volume difference between their breasts. Results Breast volume assessment using the 3D camera was done in all 20 patients pre-operatively 30 and postoperatively. The preoperative mean volume difference was 159.45 cm3, and the postoperative mean difference was 16.75 cm3, with an overall reduction in mean volume difference of 89.5%. Breast MRI volumetry was done for 10 randomly chosen patients to confirm the results and ranged between 3 and 12 cm3 (average 7.1 cm3) on the right and 0 and 15 cm3 (average 6.3 cm3) on the left. Comparing the 3D camera and MRI in assessing breast volume difference showed that the difference ranged between 1 and 5 cm3 with an average of 2.4 cm3, which was not statistically significant. Conclusion The 3D technology is useful objective tool to augment the surgeons’ experience. It helped to achieve an 84.57% reduction in volume difference in managing asymmetry with single-stage procedure.