In general implant mastectomy reconstruction takes place in two stages. At the time of the mastectomy a tissue expander is inserted beneath the pectoralis major muscle and a piece of acellular dermal matrix or Strattice is inserted to provide support to the tissue expander. There are times, albeit rare, when I proceed with immediate insertion of mammary prosthesis. Patients who…
Lumpectomy and radiation, either whole breast or intra-operative radiation therapy is an option for breast cancer treatment. Not only can oncoplastic reconstruction improve the appearance of the breast, it can also contour the breast to a more amenable shape and size for radiation therapy. When the breast is reconstructed into a smaller surface area, there is a smaller and more…
Breast cancers in patients with large breasts can often be successfully treated with lumpectomy. In larger breasted women, after the tumor is removed, there is still a significant amount of breast tissue available to reconstruct the breast. The standard mastopexy or lift patterns of the breast can be used to remove the tumor. On occasion, the tumor that needs to…
DIEP Flap breast reconstruction is the reconstruction of the breast following mastectomy. DIEP flap reconstruction is a form of autologous reconstruction where the breast is reconstructed with tissue from the patients own body. In this case, the breast can be reconstructed without the use of implants. The tissue from the lower abdomen is the most common site for autologous breast…
