Is it possible to enlarge breasts with the Patient’s Own Fat?

Breast lipofilling is a plastic surgery procedure that enhances the appearance and shape of the breasts by grafting the patient's own adipose tissue from other areas of the body. Fat is an ideal material for correcting breast defects, asymmetry, and shaping the upper pole. Typically, only a small amount of fat is needed, and the grafted tissue reliably engrafts at a rate of approximately 50%.

However, many patients wonder if lipofilling can be used for significant breast enlargement by one or more cup sizes. Unfortunately, this is not always feasible, and here's why.

Read: Breast lipofilling (fat injections)

Why Full Breast Enlargement with Fat Is Not Always Possible

One of the key factors for successful adipose tissue engraftment is the contact of the introduced fat cells with the body's tissues.

For successful fat engraftment, contact of the introduced cells with the body is necessary. With large volumes of introduced fat, some cells do not make such contact and are utilized by the body without engraftment. To achieve full breast enlargement, even by one size, a minimum of 200 ml of engrafted fat is required in each breast (it's worth noting that implants of such size are practically not used since they are too small). Given a 50% engraftment rate, approximately 400 ml of fat must be introduced into each breast.

The following problems arise here:

1. Not every woman can accumulate 800 ml of pure fat while maintaining even (without bumps) surfaces in the liposuction area. Typically, the lipocollector contains a mixture of adipocytes, solution, and blood. The amount of actual adipose tissue in the collected fluid varies from 10% to 70%, depending on the surgeon's technique. As a result, such an amount of fat can only be obtained from women with a clear excess of weight.

2. The introduction of fat. The breast volume consists of several parameters, with the main ones being the volume of glandular tissue (30-70%), fat tissue (10-70%), muscle tissue (5-20%), and the degree of rib protrusion under the breast (0-40%). Fat can be safely introduced only into fat and muscle tissue (not into glandular tissue). For successful engraftment, it's necessary to evenly distribute the introduced fat among the tissues. Large accumulations of fat should not be created, which occurs when bolus injection and leads to the formation of large cysts or resorption. Therefore, if the volume of the woman's own fat and muscle tissues in a specific area is 100 ml, the introduction of fat in one procedure should not exceed 100 ml, of which about 50% engrafts. This is why repeated procedures are performed, as with each subsequent procedure, the volume of the woman's own adipose tissue in that area increases by 50% of the initial volume, which corresponds to 50% of the introduced fat.

Thus, in the best case, we achieve a volume increase of 50% from the total volume of the patient's own fat and muscle tissues (excluding glandular tissue) in a specific injection area.

Therefore, introducing fat uncontrollably and in excess of what your body can accommodate in a specific area is not possible.

Considering all of the above, unfortunately, breast enlargement with your own fat is not an alternative to implants. Since most women do not have enough fat for multiple procedures, or are not ready to undergo multiple procedures.
At the same time, lipofilling is an excellent technique for breast correction.

P. S Regarding liposculpture of the buttocks, it's different: since there is a lot of your own fat and muscle tissue in this area, you can introduce much more fat.

Author: Valentyn Zykov