There is an old saying that “God is in the Details.” This is certainly true of the delicate design of human anatomy, and especially true of the graceful slope, swell and design of the feminine breast.
No one appreciates this better than a woman who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer or has just been informed of the genetic predisposition for breast cancer.
At Orlando Cosmetic Surgery, your sensitive surgeon is aware of the individualized details of the breast, and especially the center area of each breast. This area is known as the NAC (Nipple-Areola Complex.)
Thus, in cases were a mastectomy must be performed, both doctors and patients have embraced the procedure known as Nipple Sparing Mastectomy.
Dr. Orlando Cicilioni is a world-class specialist in sculpting the beauty and individuality of a woman’s breasts. The Nipple Sparing Mastectomy is only one of the many types of surgery at which he is meticulously adept and artistically precise.
Although we are giving you good information in the points below, we want you to know that every case is different. At Orlando Cosmetic Surgery, you and your surgeon will discuss all your options in your preliminary consultation; no amount of research and reading can be substituted for that communication.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in the nipple sparing mastectomy, “the surgeon carefully designs the nipple sparing mastectomy so as to preserve the nipple-areola complex (NAC) for use in immediate breast reconstruction.”
In addition to the cosmetic advantages, reconstruction using the preserved NAC can lead to increased satisfaction for women undergoing mastectomy.”
Naturally, as you would imagine, this technique is only possible when there is no evidence of cancer in the tissues of the NAC. Likewise, risks of necrosis (tissue death) are higher in patients who smoke or heal more slowly than normal due to other conditions or age.
Here are a few more Factoids for you to consider about this technique:
1. The Cosmetic Benefit: One of the major benefits of the nipple-sparing mastectomy is that it preserves the natural, individual beauty of the patient’s breast. When reconstruction is complete, only light scars will reveal that the surgeon has done his work. The re-constructed breast will appear more whole, and more natural.
The resulting scars on or near the breast can barely be seen. “They are hidden “either in the under crease of the breast, what we call the infra-mammary fold, or out toward the arm, but it otherwise looks completely intact.”
2. The Self Assurance Benefit: This must not be thought of as merely a cosmetic procedure associated with vanity. There is ample evidence that the nipple sparing technique increases a woman’s self-esteem and enhances her body image.
3. The Question of Projection: A reconstructed nipple is not exactly the same as it was before the mastectomy and women should be prepared that it might lose some projection as age and time affect her physique.
4. The Question of Sensation: Experts say that “sensation after nipple-sparing mastectomy again is variable.” Thirty to sixty per cent of the women in recent studies reported a return of feeling in the nipple. Some say that the sensation remains dull; others record erectile ability a year after the procedure.
6. The Question of Complications: In a recent study of 500 women and their mastectomies with nipple-sparing technique, the overall complication rate was about 12 percent. The most common complications were tissue death (necrosis) of part of the nipple or skin used for reconstruction, but 90 percent of the entire group retained the natural nipple.
The study was done by ASPS Member Surgeon Dr. Amy S. Colwell and colleagues of Massachusetts General Hospital who studied the results of nipple-sparing mastectomy. Ultimately they stated, “Our review demonstrates that nipple-sparing mastectomy and immediate reconstruction has a high rate of success and a low rate of complications.”
That is a remarkably beautiful outcome, but at Orlando Cosmetic Surgery, we think that what is even more beautiful is that none of the women in that study are suffering recurring cancer. As always, we thank you for reading our blog this week, and we welcome you to a wealth of information concerning breast surgery of every type at in the pages of this website.
