[A permanent expanding prosthesis and the latest refinements in breast reconstructive surgery]

The use of an expanding prosthesis that can be left in place after adjustment of its volume allows an improvement in the quality of the results of breast reconstructive surgery. This implant offers many advantages: 1) It doesn't have to be changed: only the valve and the inflation tube must be removed. 2) The ideal breast volume can be progressively obtained by gradually prompting the skin. 3) A transient overinflation before returning to the desired volume often results in a more natural looking and preptotic breast. An adjuvant method (tattooing of the nipple-areola) is also presented. It contributes to the improvement of the aesthetic nature of this type of reconstructive surgery. The author's series consists of 26 reconstructions which demonstrate the interesting possibilities offered by this implant and by the adjuvant method applied to the nipple-areola.