Robert S. Hamas, MD

The vast majority of implants are "round" - a term that refers to their shape in front view. Recently, a teardrop implant was introduced that retains its teardrop shape in side view whether the patient is recumbent or upright. Despite the fact that a normal breast is not teardrop-shaped when recumbent, this new implant has been marketed as "anatomical."

Although round and teardrop implants look different in side view on a table, what are the postoperative shapes with patients upright? Does the difference in shape give one type of implant a more natural looking result or a more anatomically correct profile than the other? To study this, I developed an x-ray approach to document the postoperative shape of breast implants in side view.

All x-rays of round implants with patients upright showed that they were teardrop-shaped. When compared with the x-rays of teardrop implants, it was evident that the round and the teardrop implants had similar teardrop shapes. Therefore, there is no basis for the claim that one provides a better or more natural-looking breast than the other. In this series of patients, the resulting breast shape with patients upright was similar for the two types of implants.

With patients recumbent, round implants settle back evenly like normal breasts, whereas teardrop implants maintain their teardrop shape. Thus, with respect to the shape when upright as well as the shape when recumbent, round implants are actually more "anatomical" than teardrop implants.

Presented in part at the 32nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Dallas, TX, May 16, 1999.