Evaluation of fat in breast tissue removed by vertical mammaplasty.

Breast liposuction, performed immediately prior to surgical reduction, has proven to be an efficient adjuvant method to reduce large breasts, even in young patients. Experience has shown, however, that liposuction is difficult or impossible in breasts in which fat is intimately mixed with glandular tissue. Clinical examination gives no information about the breast content. In order to evaluate the fat content of the breast, 33 unselected specimens removed during breast reductions (20 with liposuction and 13 without liposuction) were subjected to melting in a microwave oven. The fat separated from the residue could be weighed. This confirmed that pure glandular breasts are uncommon and that breast fat varies largely from one patient to another, with extremes of 2 and 78 percent and a mean value of 48 percent. Breast fat increases with age, with the body mass, and with the total volume of the breast. Clinical implications of these new data deserve investigation.