Assessment of Three Breast Volume Measurement Techniques: Single Marking, MRI and Crisalix 3D Software^®

Measuring breast volume is important to obtain satisfactory breast surgery results, and many techniques are used for this purpose. Thus, the aim of the present study was to compare 3 breast volume techniques: Pessoa's single marking technique, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and Crisalix 3D software^®.

Fourteen patients indicated for mammoplasty were selected. Three breast volume measurement techniques were compared: Pessoa's single marking technique, MRI and Crisalix 3D software^®. The volumes were tabulated and analyzed using R software.

Average age was 30.93 ± 10.25 years. The breast volume was 1554.54 ± 512.54 cm³, as measured by the MRI technique (considered the gold standard), 1199.64 ± 403.13 cm³ using Crisalix 3D software^® and 1518.04 ± 468.72 cm³ by Pessoa's single marking technique. Comparison between the Crisalix 3D software^® and MRI techniques using the pairwise t test demonstrated a statistically significant difference (t = 4.3957, df = 27, p value = 0001543), but no significant difference between the single marking and MRI techniques (t = 1.3841, df = 27, p value = 0.1777).

When compared to MRI, breast volume measurement using Pessoa's single marking technique showed no statistically significant difference between them. However, the Crisalix 3D^® technique exhibited a difference in relation to MRI. Anthropometric measurements are useful in measuring breast volume because they are easy to obtain, practical and inexpensive, and should be part of a plastic surgeon's arsenal.

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