An online influencer is suing a Harley Street plastic surgeon for a massive £1.7m - claiming "overly large" breast implants ruined her career.
English-born YouTube star Danielle Mansutti, 30, says she was left with "disfigured" breasts and a "very poor cosmetic appearance" after undergoing three operations between December 2020 and May 2021.
The influencer, who gained 1.6m subscribers after finding fame for her makeup tutorials, fashion and lifestyle videos, had breast implants in December 2020, before further surgery in January and May 2021 after her left breast began to droop and her nipple to "point outwards".
After seeing a third surgeon, she says she was finally advised that the implants had been too big for her size eight frame and had caused her chest muscles on her left side to tear away from the bone, leaving her in agony and with asymmetrical breasts.
Ms Mansutti, who eventually had the implants removed in May 2021, is now suing Harley Street plastic surgeon Dr Domenico Mileto, who carried out the original surgery, accusing him of recommending oversized implants.
She says the physical and mental impact of her ordeal led to her quitting the UK and "stopping work as an influencer," losing her "successful social media career."
She is now suing for a massive £1.7m, including for potential lost social media earnings of about £1.4m, saying that she was left "disfigured" by the surgery.
But Dr Mileto denies blame, insisting there was nothing wrong with the surgery, that the implants were not too big and that she had asked for breasts that size.
Ms Mansutti was born in the UK and moved to Australia with her family aged 12, but then returned, creating a self-titled YouTube channel in January 2011, which gained 1.6m subscribers.
Then based in Brighton, Ms Mansutti’s makeup, fashion and beauty channel featured challenges, travel features, motivational videos and vlogs.
But the High Court heard that she quit working as an influencer around a month after having surgery in December 2020.
In documents lodged with the court, her barrister Caroline Hallissey says that top surgeon Dr Mileto, working out of the MYA Clinic, in Wimpole Street, operated on her after she decided to increase her breast size.
The barrister said the note of the initial consultation in November 2020 recorded that Ms Mansutti wanted to enlarge her breasts and was "now size bra is 34B, wants C/D."
"The claimant explained to Dr Mileto that she wanted a natural breast appearance. She was a size eight dress size and was sure she did not want the appearance of obviously augmented breasts.
"She was given two or three implants to try, in the range 350-400cc, which were inserted into a sports bra provided by the clinic....when she expressed a preference for the smaller implant, Dr Mileto advised her to go for the larger implant as he said the implant would 'drop' and 'shrink' in time.
"She did not appreciate that different options for implants were available. She believed that Dr Mileto was the expert and that if he considered a 400cc implant was required to achieve the C/D cup and the natural look she wanted, then he must be right.
"She was not advised of any specific risks pertaining to the size of the implant that Dr Mileto had selected for her. She was not advised that 400cc implants, in the context of her small frame, had potential adverse implications for the soft tissue and skin of the breasts or her pectoral muscles (or that) corrective surgery might be required if such large implants were used."
She said that, following the first surgery, Ms Mansutti saw a MYA nurse on January 20, 2021, and was already concerned that her left breast was lower than the right.
"The record of the attendance indicated that the claimant was not happy with the result of the operation, specifically in relation to asymmetry between the breasts," she says.
That led to revision surgery by a second medic in January 2021, achieving "short term relief of the pain" before it soon returned and the breast again "descended lower on the chest wall."
Ms Mansutti went on to have the implants removed by a third surgeon in May 2021, but says she has been left with "a visual deformity" caused by muscle damage and stretch marks.
The third surgeon's note "records that the pectoral muscle on the left side had become detached from the sternal bone," the barrister said.
"The appearance of her breasts is disfigured and pain and muscle damage have had a significant effect on her quality of life and ability to work.
"As a result, she decided to return to Australia where her family live so she could access their support and care."
Insisting the implants were too big, she said that "400cc implants would achieve a 34DD/E cup size, which was not what she wanted to achieve in terms of a natural look breast augmentation".
Ms Mansutti is accusing Dr Mileto of "failing to recommend and insert an appropriate implant size and shape" and also of damaging her chest muscle by "over-dissecting" it during the implant operation.
"The claimant was a suitable candidate for breast augmentation with an appropriately-sized implant in the region of 250cc," she says.
"Implants of this size would have achieved a C/D cup size without the need for further intervention. The surgery would have been straightforward, achieved a good cosmetic result and would not have required correction.
"Instead, overly large implants were inserted in the first operation and maintained in the second operation.
"She has been left with a very poor cosmetic appearance.
"She is left with pain and disability caused by pectoral muscle damage. She has extensive scarring to her breasts. The cosmetic appearance of her breasts is poor.
"She has sustained a significant adjustment reaction to the failed surgery."
In his defence to the action, Matthew Barnes, for Dr Mileto, said he denies putting in "overly large" implants that were bigger than requested.
"The claimant showed...a photograph of how she wanted to look, and whilst he did not keep a copy, it was consistent with 400cc implants," he said.
"He gave the claimant the opportunity to try several implant sizes and take photographs so that she could consider her options after the appointment.
"He advised the claimant that she could have a second appointment if she was uncertain about the size.
"It is admitted that Dr Mileto did not advise the claimant that 'in the context of her small frame [the implants] had potential adverse implications for…her pectoral muscles'. It is denied that he ought to have advised in those terms.
"It is averred that the extent of the dissection was appropriate for the 400cc implant."
Summarising her case at a hearing in February, Deputy Master Claire Toogood KC said Ms Mansutti had built a “significant following” online and claims “her injury prevented her from continuing with that career."
"She has rather more conventional work now, has returned to Australia and is now working in business which is less remunerative," said the judge.
"The claimant says that, but for the injury, she would have continued with her successful social media career performing that in a number of ways.”
At another hearing before Master Yoxall last week, Maria Barker, a costs lawyer for the claimant, told the court: "This is a £1.7m claim as pleaded. The schedule of loss is big."
The court heard that experts to be potentially called at trial include an employment expert to perform an "investigation of income streams," plus a psychiatric expert and breast surgery expert.
"Liability is in dispute in regard to everything: the consent, the examination, the size of the implants," the judge was told.
The case is set to return to court for a five-day trial at a later date.
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