OBJECTIVE Secondary reconstruction after breast-conserving surgery is generally challenging because of the nature of irradiated tissue. The aim of this study was to validate the use of latissimus dorsi myocutaneous (LDM) flaps for secondary breast reconstruction after breast-conserving surgery. METHODS Fifteen consecutive patients who underwent secondary reconstruction with an LDM flap after ...

BACKGROUND The authors performed a systematic review of the literature on the outcome of therapy for patients with breast cancer who underwent adjuvant radiotherapy after an immediate two-stage prosthetic breast reconstruction, either following tissue expansion (stage 1) or after removal of the tissue expander and insertion of a final breast implant (stage 2). Their outcomes were compared to th...

BACKGROUND Venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk models including the Davison risk score and the 2005 Caprini risk assessment model have been validated in plastic surgery patients. However, their utility and predictive value in breast reconstruction has not been well described. We sought to determine the utility of current VTE risk models in this population and the VTE rate observed in various meth...

Breast reconstruction has evolved significantly during its short, 40-year history. What began as limited reconstruction through the use of local skin flaps has now become an entire array of procedures including novel autologous flaps and new techniques in implant/expander use. Throughout this evolution, the primary goal of reconstruction has always remained the same: to recreate the most natura...

BACKGROUND The latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap and implant breast reconstruction procedure has undergone many refinements over its lifetime. In fact, the authors have made many aesthetic and technical refinements to their own approach to breast reconstruction. OBJECTIVES The authors review the historical progression of latissimus flap and breast reconstruction techniques and compare these ...

The Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA) became federal law on January 1, 1999, mandating health care payer coverage for postmastectomy breast reconstruction. Despite passage of this legislation, breast reconstruction rates in the United States remain low. The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database for mastectomy patients in 11 regions across the United States show o...

Objective: Oncoplastic surgery was developed to allow for large tumor excision and immediate breast reconstruction with the goal of optimal breast shape and symmetry. Although initially used in women who underwent lumpectomy for breast malignancy, these techniques can be useful for cosmetic issues caused by benign breast disease. We describe a modification of an inferior pedicle with Wise-patte...

TO THE EDITOR: I was delighted to read the article by Drs. Spear, Clemens, and Dayan on “Considerations of Previous Augmentation in Subsequent Breast Reconstruction” (Aesthetic Surg J 2008;28:285–293). This is a particularly timely and relevant article, because we have entered into an era in which a large number of women who have undergone breast augmentation have matured into the age group tha...

Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) is a novel imaging technology to improve early breast cancer detection. It provides three-dimensional information of the breast to overcome the critical issues of overlapping anatomical structures of the breast. Among current available DBT reconstruction algorithms, Maximum Likelihood Expectation-Maximisation (MLEM) is a time-consuming iterative method to reco...

Aim: Autologous fat grafting has gained acceptance as a technique to improve aesthetic outcomes in breast reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to share our clinical experience using autologous fat injection to correct contour deformities during breast reconstruction. Methods: A single surgeon, prospectively maintained database of patients who underwent autologous fat injection during b...