Technical Points in Circumareolar Surgery: Deepithelialization

Abstract

Owing to the increasing popularity of the circumareolar technique for a variety of problems, I was asked to chair a panel at the 1994 annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. It is evident that a number of surgeons take moderately different approaches to the technique, beginning with Ulrich Hinderer, and continuing through the excellent video tape in 1993 by Larry Schlesinger. The only consensus is that the deepithelialized circle has been reduced by all authors and that a variety of methods are used to reduce tension to avoid spreading of the areola. The only radical departure is that of Cardoso de Castro, who has resumed the once discredited approach of circumferential freeing of skin from the breast and removing the wedge of tissue for reduction on the superior aspect.