Vertical reduction mammaplasty.

The patients seeking our help for breast reduction are very often young and probably planning to have children later in their lives. Therefore it is most important to offer them a method of reduction mammaplasty that leaves as little scars and as much physiological function as possible. The vertical reduction mammaplasty as we perform it is a method that leaves normal sensibility in almost all cases, the possibility of lactation, little scarring and a pleasant form. The method can be used in all cases, ranging from mastopexy to reduction weights of over 2 kg of each breast. The vertical technique developed by Claude Lassus [1,2] and Madeleine Lejour [3,4,5,6] is a contemporary method of reduction that leaves few scars and conserves a maximum of physiological function. The method needs surgical skill and therefore it is not suitable for beginners in breast surgery. It is difficult to teach because it uses no patterns such as those of Strömbeck [7] or McKissock [8] but it gives the breasts a new form based on the anatomical circumstances and wishes of the patients. Due to some unfavorable results in the early beginning often caused by too long a caudal part of the breast or a dog-ear at the end of the vertical scar, we have added some modifications to the method. We've heard of the same problems from several colleagues who no longer perform this method in major reduction plasties. We have been using this technique in all cases of breast reductions or mastopexies for the past 8 years.