Breast Surgery – Alloderm and Belladerm
Over the past several years Acellular Dermal Matrix(ADM) has become a buzz phrase in plastic surgery. In fact several areas of surgery such as General Surgery, Urology and others have started using these products. What they are is dermis that has been stripped of cellular structure. What is left is the collagen structure of the deeper layers of the skin without the ability to grow new skin. It turns out this offers very nice benefits. It is incorporated into the host body very quickly. By that I mean when we as surgeons put this material into a patient’s body it acts like a framework for the patient to grow tissue – blood vessels, new collagen, etc into this lattice (framework or scaffold). In breast surgery it has been used for many years to aid in reconstruction after mastectomy. using it as an internal bra to support an implant for example has improved the contour of reconstructions. In addition it has decreased the exposure rate of implants and the infection rate as well. Recently we have started using this material for cosmetic revisions. Specifically it appears to help prevent recurrent capsular contracture. It is also wonderful for correction of symmastia. It is in these last two areas, recurrent capsular contracture and symmastia where I have had very gratifying results. For example, see this video on symmastia repair using Belladerm:
Symmastia Repair using Belladerm
Alloderm is made by LifeCell and has been around the longest and has more articles written about it. Belladerm is made by MTF corporation. MTF is the leader in Tissue Transplant Technology and the nation’s (USA) largest Tissue Bank Company.
There are other techniques that have been described in the plastic surgery literature for symmastia repair. These other techniques, in my opinion and that of others, is frought with problems such as recurrence, contour irregularities, and more. I have been exceptionally happy using the ADM technique with no recurrences, puckers, divots or contour problems.