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Quantification of Breast Volume According to age and BMI: A Three-Dimensional MRI Analysis of 400 Women

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  • Breast Surgery
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Abstract

Objective

Breast size alteration is the most common aesthetic surgical procedure worldwide. This study aimed to assess the correlation between breast volume and BMI or age.

Materials and methods

The analyses were conducted utilizing 400 patients selected by a retrospective review of the archives at our institution. Epidemiological data and medical history were assessed. Adjusting for the age and BMI of patient from previously described cohorts, we calculated mean breast volumes per side and differences from the upper and lower percentiles to the mean volumes.

Results

The patients had a median BMI of 23.5 (range: 14.7–45.6) and a median age of 51 (range: 24–82). The average total breast volume increased strongly with BMI (r=0.834, p<0.01) and moderately with age (r=0.305, p<0.01). Within a BMI range of 18–24, breast volumes in the 8th and 18th percentile differ on average by about 50 ml. One BMI unit increase in women with breast sizes in the 10th percentile accounts for a breast volume difference of about 30 ml.

Conclusion

BMI strongly correlates with breast size. To achieve natural results, preoperative consultation and planning of aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery must recognize BMI as a major determinant of average breast size.

Level of Evidence IV

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

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Funding

No additional external funding was received for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital of Tübingen, Hoppe-Seyler-Strasse 3, 72076, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Arne Estler, Eloisa Zanderigo, Daniel Wessling, Gerd Grözinger & Konstantin Nikolaou

  2. Department of Women´s Health, University Hospital of Tübingen, Calwerstr. 7, 72076, Tübingen, Germany

    Sahra Steinmacher

  3. Department of Plastic Hand and Reconstructive Surgery BG Trauma Centre Tübingen, Schnarrenbergstr 95, 72076, Tübingen, Germany

    Adrien Daigeler

  4. Department of General-, Visceral-, Vascular-, and Paediatric Surgery, Saarland University Medical Centre, Kirrberger Straße, 66421, Homburg, Saarland, Germany

    Cristina Jorge

  5. CenterPlast private practice, Bahnhofstr. 36, 66111, Saarbrücken, Germany

    Adelana Santos Stahl & Stéphane Stahl

  6. Institute for Clinical Epidemiology and Applied Biometrics, Medical University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    You-Shan Feng

  7. Institute of Medical Bioinformatics and Systems Medicine (IBSM), University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Vincent Schipperges

Authors
  1. Arne Estler
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  2. Eloisa Zanderigo
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  3. Daniel Wessling
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  5. Sahra Steinmacher
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  6. Adrien Daigeler
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  7. Cristina Jorge
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  8. Adelana Santos Stahl
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  9. You-Shan Feng
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  10. Vincent Schipperges
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  11. Konstantin Nikolaou
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  12. Stéphane Stahl
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arne Estler.

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Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Ethical Approval

This retrospective study was approved by the local institutional Ethics Committee (Project No. 16/2022 BO2).

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For this type of study informed consent is not required.

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Estler, A., Zanderigo, E., Wessling, D. et al. Quantification of Breast Volume According to age and BMI: A Three-Dimensional MRI Analysis of 400 Women. Aesth Plast Surg 47, 1713–1724 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-022-03167-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-022-03167-0

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