Reliability and validity of Mamma Balance®: Novel software to assess the symmetry of the nipple-areola-complex position

Publication date: Available online 2 June 2017
Source:Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery
Author(s): Yuko Mukai, Satoko Watanabe, Mio Matsumoto, Miho Saiga, Yoshihiro Kimata
BackgroundIt is important to achieve as much symmetry in the breasts as possible during breast reconstruction. The nipple-areola complex (NAC) position is an important component of a breast appearance, and it critically affects the aesthetic outcome of surgery. Mamma Balance® (MB) (Medic Engineering K.K, ver. 1.0.3) can automatically calculate and assess the degree of the NAC position’s symmetry with one continuous variable. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of this software to assess the NAC’s symmetry.MethodsTwenty-seven patients received nipple-sparing mastectomy followed by tissue expander reconstruction at Okayama University Hospital between August 2009 and August 2014. Three raters evaluated the NAC position’s symmetry using an ordinal scale (OS) and the MB, and the inter-rater reliability and validity of each method were assessed.ResultsThe inter-rater reliabilities of each method were good (OS-ICC, 0.93; MB-ICC, 0.78). The Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients of the OS and the MB were moderate-to-good (r=0.65-0.74), and the MB scores were widely dispersed among the OS scores 0, which was considered a floor effect.ConclusionThe MB was superior to the OS in terms of objective continuous variables and freedom from the floor effect. This novel software is an excellent tool for assessing the NAC position’s symmetry.



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