A Two-Dimensional Quantitative Assessment Method for Breast Ptosis Following Transaxillary Implant Augmentation

Area of Science:

• Plastic Surgery
• Aesthetic Surgery
• Breast Augmentation

Background:

• Implant-only augmentation has limited efficacy for breast ptosis correction due to a lack of standardized criteria.
• Traditional ptosis grading overlooks the inferior breast border's relationship to the inframammary fold.
• A novel two-dimensional quantitative assessment method is proposed to evaluate ptosis and predict outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a quantitative assessment method for breast ptosis.
• To predict patient satisfaction following transaxillary implant-only augmentation.
• To establish objective criteria for patient selection and surgical planning.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of patients undergoing transaxillary implant-only augmentation.
• Measurement of preoperative and postoperative Nipple Ptosis Score (NPS) and Inferior Breast Border Ptosis Score (IBPS).
• Correlation analysis, ROC curves, and ANOVA to assess validity and predictive accuracy for patient satisfaction.

Main Results:

• The proposed NPS and IBPS method demonstrated good construct and external validity.
• Optimal cutoff scores for predicting satisfaction were IBPS ≤ 1.5 (AUC=0.839) and NPS ≤ 2.5 (AUC=0.710).
• Highest satisfaction was observed in patients meeting both thresholds; lowest satisfaction in those meeting neither (p < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• The two-dimensional quantitative method offers objective breast ptosis evaluation.
• Preoperative IBPS ≤ 1.5 and NPS ≤ 2.5 predict higher satisfaction in Chinese women undergoing augmentation.
• IBPS exhibits stronger predictive value for patient selection and surgical planning.