Estimating Implant Volume and Mastectomy-Specimen Volume by Measuring Breast Volume With a 3-Dimensional Scanner.

OBJECTIVES

Conventional 2-stage expander-implant breast reconstruction is frequently performed. However, direct to implant reconstruction should be considered if indicated and if circumstances allow. One difficulty in breast reconstruction postmastectomy is selection of the appropriate implant size prior to surgery. The ability to estimate implant volume and mastectomy-specimen volume from the preoperative breast volume using a 3-dimensional (3D) scanner would greatly facilitate reconstruction. We investigated the relation between preoperative breast volume, mastectomy-specimen volume, and implant volume.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Forty-eight women who underwent 2-stage expander-implant reconstruction between April 2014 and September 2015 were included in this study. A 3D scanner (Kinect V1; Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash) was used for measuring preoperative breast volume. We evaluated the relation of the measured preoperative breast volume, the mastectomy-specimen volume, and the implant volume using the Pearson correlation coefficient.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

A strong correlation existed between preoperative breast volume, mastectomy-specimen volume, and implant volume. The following formulae were calculated:Mastectomy-specimen volume (mL) = 1.01 × preoperative breast volume (mL) + 9.91Implant volume (mL) = 0.90 × preoperative breast volume (mL) + 65.42Implant volume (mL) = 0.68 × mastectomy-specimen volume (mL) + 68.26This study shows that preoperative breast volume, as measured by a 3D Kinect scanner, can provide useful assistance in the preoperative choice of implant size.