Clinical Scenario
The patient is a 25-year-old young man with a Poland syndrome on his left side. The sternoclavicular and sternocostal parts of his pectoralis major muscle are atrophied. The costal bone plan is slightly deformed. The patient's left arm is shorter than his right arm. His deformity is a type 3 Poland Syndrome as the pathology affects the muscle and the rib cage.
The patient wants to have a normal life, without having to hide his malformation at the beach or during his sports activities. I offered him a correction with a 3D custom-made implant with a design based on his right pectoralis muscle to create a perfect symmetry between the right and left parts of his body.
The surgery
The surgery with custom-made implants
The custom-made implant was placed through an axillarily approach in the armpit. It was slipped subcutaneously in a chamber to its exact measure, then encapsulated by fibrin, for a perfect stabilisation. The 8-cm incision was sutured in 2 planes.
Surgical follow-up
Postoperative recovery proceeded with no complications. I prescribed to the patient paracetamol in case of pain, and a support bra to keep for 15 days. He could resume sport after three months
Result
Good result one year after the operation. The patient is satisfied with a better symmetry of his thorax. He was able to resume all his activities with no complex.
Author and bibliography
Author
Dr Benito-Ruiz is the director of the Antiaging Group Barcelona plastic surgery practice. He was also president of AECEP in 2018-2019 and vice-president of cosmetic surgery of SECPRE between 2015-2018.
