This week, James E. Craigie, MD, of The Center for Natural Breast Reconstruction answers your question.

Question: My implants (30 years old) have ruptured. Can I have the implants removed and use my own fat to reconstruct the breasts? How do I know if I have enough fat to do this (pretty thin)?

Answer: Thank you for your question.  Were your breast implants used for reconstruction or do you still have your normal breast tissue? Either way if the implants have ruptured they need to be removed. If they are silicone then the silicone would need to be removed as well. If you decide not to replace the implants then it is possible to replace the implants with your own fatty tissue. This can be done different ways. Fat grafting is possible and involves liposuction of fat from multiple areas and injecting the fat into the breast to replace the implant. This procedure requires multiple steps  and it depends on how much fatty tissue you have and how big your implants are.  Even if you are “pretty thin” it is usually possible to get enough fatty tissue taking it from multiple areas of the body. I would need to know more about your situation to be more specific.

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