Munich (dpa) - After giving replacement breasts made from pigskin
to six women in Germany, doctors in Munich detailed the new method
Thursday, saying it results in fewer scars for masectomy patients.
Senior doctor Darius Dian said the procedure used a "dermal
matrix" made from an underlayer of the skin of pigs. The pig's own
cells are removed from the skin. The woman's own cells and blood
vessels repopulate the material after it has been transplanted.
A US biotechnology manufacturer won regulatory approval a year ago
in the European Union to market the product, known as Strattice.
The current standard method to reconstruct the breast relies on
transplanting flaps of the patient's own skin from the belly, back or
buttocks, but this leaves scars there and may also lead to capsular
contracture, a tightening of skin at the new join.
Munich University's Gynaecology Clinic said it was the first
clinic in Europe to offer the procedure. No major study of it has
been completed yet, but one is under way in the United States, Dian
said.
Copyright 2009 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH