by Hammond, Dennis C.; Chaudhry, Arif
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: September
2022 - Volume 150 - Issue 3 - p 496-509
Background:
The precise cause of and treatment for capsular contracture
remains uncertain, at least partially because there is no reliable quantitative
measurement tool. To address this, it is postulated that the surface area of an
implant as defined by the surrounding pocket may provide a quantifiable
variable that can be measured to evaluate the degree of capsular contracture.
Methods:
A bench model for capsular contracture was developed. The
surface area of a series of spherical test objects and noncontracted and contracted
breast implants was measured using a wax-coating technique and
three-dimensional reconstructions created from computed tomographic scan
images.
Results:
Comparison of the mathematically calculated surface areas to
the wax and computed tomographic scan results for spheres of known dimension
provided nearly identical values, documenting the accuracy of the two
experimental methods. Comparison of the surface area measurements between the
test groups showed that the average decrease in surface area for all implants
was 20 percent, ranging from a high of 30.9 percent for a low-profile implant
to a low of 14.1 percent for a high-profile implant. The anatomically shaped
devices demonstrated nearly uniform degrees of surface area change over three
different heights with volume and projection held relatively constant.
Conclusions:
The described bench model provides a useful tool for the
study of capsular contracture. Surface area is a descriptive variable that can
assess the degree of capsular contracture that is present. A classification
system based on surface area is presented.
