Research

We were invited into a UHN (Toronto, ON) surgical operating room to observe Dr. Stefan Hofer the Division Head of Plastic Surgery at University Health Network and Mount Sinai Health System (2025).

There are a wide range of Mastopexy, breast lift, procedures with 3 basic incisions types. This surgery is often paired with an augmentation or reduction when there is a tissue deficiency. The procedure varies from case to case depending on the patient anatomy and wishes. The inverted-T method removes a large section of skin and can result in significant scarring; however, it facilitates nipple elevation, parenchymal redistribution, fixation and auto-augmentation techniques (Hildago and Spector 642). In this scenario, the patient had previous implants placed in a subglandular position (over-the-muscle: between the breast tissue and pectoralis major muscle) and required removal of one due to painful constrictive fibrosis, also known as capsular contracture, around the breast implant. Capsular contracture entails the tightening and hardening of the collagen around the implant which can be painful and distort the shape of the breast (Ajdic et al. 297). It is a common cause for breast revision surgery. After a consultation, the patient decided that both implants were to be removed and a mastopexy would be performed on both breasts in order to reshape them. Alternative procedures could have included the replacement of the rejected implant, a double mastectomy, etc.

Preproduction

During this process, we went through several draft iterations for each step in the procedure confirming with Dr. Hofer as well as Michael Corrin to ensure the anatomy and technique were accurate. 3D maquettes were used in Autodesk Maya to ensure that foreshortening of the surgical instruments were precise.

After review final draft (right) was decided upon, we moved to the final illustrations.