BACKGROUND Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has been administered since the 1990s and is now one of the major treatments for breast cancer. It can achieve extremely positive results in some patients. Whether NAC affects immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) using an expander, however, remains unclear. METHODS A retrospective study was performed at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) hosp...

INTRODUCTION Tissue expanders have been of great value in plastic surgery. Tissue expansion was developed for a specific indication; however, within a very short time, the concept of tissue expansion found wide applicability. From 1990 to 1999, 315 expanders in 164 patients were utilized. A retrospective analysis of complications and prognostic factors for complications were done. METHODS The...

BACKGROUND Presently, breast cancer detection is delayed in Poland and, thus, the only other option for patients is amputation and breast reconstruction (immediate or delayed). Reconstructive methods are based on using the patient's own tissue (pedicled or free myocutaneous flaps) or implants (a tissue expander, which is later exchanged for a prosthesis or an expandable implant). OBJECTIVE To...

BACKGROUND: Previously, we found patient satisfaction with breast reconstruction at postoperative year 1 significantly higher in the autogenous tissue compared with the expander/implant population. But breast reconstructive procedures have different “aging” processes, and the point at which outcomes stabilize is unclear. So we evaluated patient satisfaction with breast reconstruction at postope...