By Robin Merril Lorenzo

Vertical mammoplasty is a slightly faster operation, because there is less cutting and sewing and no need to use drains. That’s always a good thing when it means less anasthesia. Pre-op and recovery times are about the same as with traditional inferior pedicle procedures. But vertical mammoplasty is also a more complex, challenging procedure for the surgeon and so efficiency is not always a priority, especially in the drive for best possible results. On the day of surgery, the physician spends more time marking, checking, and measuring the breast than they do with standard breast reduction.

The vertical scar procedure was first described in 1964 but didn’t get much attention until the late 1980s when Professor Madelaine LeJour, from Belgium, started performing it on her patients.

“Prior to Madame LeJour, others had described similar surgeries, but she’s developed it to a fine art. She understands the technicalities and analysis that goes into the work,” says Emily Pollard, MD, FACS, a plastic surgeon who practices in Philadelphia and studied with Madame LeJour five years ago.

Madame LeJour developed the technique, now often referred to as LeJour Breast Reduction, because she wasn’t happy with the results of her breast reduction surgeries. Her patients were more comfortable, of course, but they also sported severe scars and flat breasts.

So Madame LeJour developed a procedure that offers two key benefits over traditional methods of breast reduction:

Less scarring. The single vertical incision eliminates both the horizontal scar and loss of skin where the horizontal and vertical segments meet on traditional procedures.

More shapely breasts.

Madame LeJour pioneered the effort to achieve rounder, fuller breasts with more projection than the wide, flattened shape that results from traditional procedures.

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