Breast assessment and implant selection using the TTM aesthetic breast chart

Abstract

Surgeons and patients in breast aesthetic surgery have very demanding expectations to create or have the best breast in terms of size, proportion, and position, with minimal scars, long-term shape maintenance, and few complications. To achieve these expectations, the surgeon must know and document the exact situation of the breast before surgery (using breast and chest measurements and photos), the patient's desire, and, if this desire is realistic, how it can be achieved. In a study of 380 consecutive female subjects, the author considered as normal a breast that was identified as such by the majority of women of the same age group and physiological status. Using the various measurements, the author developed a chart to obtain the ideal aesthetic result in breast augmentation when there is a perfect match between implant selection and breast pocket dimensions, leading to good tension of the covering soft tissue over the implant. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.