Controlateral Symmetrisation in SRM for Breast Cancer: Now or Then? Immediate versus Delayed Symmetrisation in a Two-Stage Breast Reconstruction.

Introduction: The timing of contralateral symmetrisation in patients with large and ptotic breasts undergoing a unilateral skin-reducing mastectomy (SRM) is one of the most debated topics in the reconstructive field. There is no evidence to support the advantage of immediate or delayed symmetrisation to help surgeons with this decision. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical and aesthetic outcomes of immediate symmetrisation. Methods: A randomised observational study was conducted on patients who underwent an SRM for unilateral breast cancer. Based on a simple randomisation list, patients were divided into two groups: a delayed symmetrisation group versus an immediate symmetrisation group. The postoperative complications, BREAST-Q outcomes and reoperations were compared. Results: Out of a total of 84 patients undergoing an SRM between January 2018 and January 2021, 42 patients underwent immediate symmetrisation and 42 patients had delayed symmetrisation. Three implant losses (7.2%) were observed and we reported three wound dehiscences; one of these was in a contralateral breast reconstruction in the immediate symmetrisation group. The BREAST-Q patient-reported outcome measures recorded better aesthetic outcomes and a high patient satisfaction for the immediate symmetrisation group. Conclusions: Simultaneous controlateral symmetrisation is a good alternative to achieve better satisfaction and quality of life for patients; from a surgical point of view, it does not excessively impact on the second time of reconstruction.

"Just Pulse it!" Introduction of a conservative implant salvage protocol to manage infection in pre-pectoral breast reconstruction: Case series and literature review.

Post-operative implant infection is generally rare after breast augmentation, but it can occur in up to 35% of cases in post-mastectomy breast reconstruction. Standard treatment consists in the administration of antibiotics, implant removal, and delayed prosthesis replacement leading to multiple operations, with a negative impact on patient's clinical, economical, and psychological outcomes. There is little information published in the literature on the management of periprosthetic infection following pre-pectoral reconstructions. Capsule's removal from a pre-pectoral plane brings the risk of excessive tissue thinning and the compromise of skin flaps viability. In this preliminary multi-center case series, eight patients diagnosed with implant infection following oncological mastectomy and two-stage heterologous pre-pectoral breast reconstruction underwent the same protocol, consisting in tissue expander removal and conservative surgical revision supplemented by an antibiotate pulse lavage of the pocket surface. All patients achieved a successful infection resolution with immediate prosthesis replacement switching the temporary expander to definitive implant. No additional surgical revision was registered during follow-up. The intermittent irrigation is meant to disrupt the biofilm structure and restore antibiotic susceptibility. Moreover, pulse lavage allows the cleansing of the prosthetic capsule, thus avoiding the vascular stress associated with subcutaneous capsulectomy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first series reporting on the use of Pulsavac in periprosthetic infection following pre-pectoral breast reconstruction, in an attempt to set the basis for an alternative conservative protocol to manage breast implant infection. A thorough literature review on pulse lavage in breast surgery was carried out.

Galactocele After Aesthetic Breast Augmentation with Silicone Implants: An Uncommon Presentation.

BACKGROUND: Breast augmentation is one of the most frequently performed esthetic operations. Galactorrhea and galactocele formation are both very rare complications. The real cause still remains unknown, but various risk factors have been well reported in the literature. This report concerns a case of postoperative galactocele following bilateral breast augmentation via the inframammary approach with dual-plane insertion of implants, which is usually considered a protective approach in terms of risk factors for induction of postoperative galactorrhea. METHODS: The patient had no significant surgical, gynecological or medical history, including galactorrhea or hyperprolactinemia, and did not present any chest wall abnormalities. There has been no use of oral contraceptives or any other drugs. After the surgical procedure, the patient presented with infection-like symptoms, for which galactorrhea or galactocele was initially not considered, mainly for the absence of specific risk factors. RESULTS: After antibiotic and bromocriptine therapy, her breast returned to normal, with no pain, inflammation, enlargement or esthetic alterations. After 6 months of follow-up, the patient did not present any abnormality and she was satisfied with the result. CONCLUSION: With our report, we want to underline that galactorrhea and galactocele cannot be ruled out, even in patients with no risk factors and with procedures considered as "protective." With a fast diagnosis and a specific therapy, implants and final result can be rescued. Level of Evidence V This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Treatment of irradiated expanders: protective lipofilling allows immediate prosthetic breast reconstruction in the setting of postoperative radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Immediate two-stage prosthetic breast reconstruction in the setting of postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) currently is hardly achieved with the fast-track expander exchange proposed by Cordeiro and colleagues or the delayed-immediate breast reconstruction proposed by Kronowitz and Robb. Each of these techniques has important drawbacks and complications. To overcome these problems, the authors in 2011 described lipofilling on irradiated expanders in patients undergoing unplanned PMRT (Cagliari University Hospital [CUH] protocol) for early breast cancers with specific risk factors. The authors report their experience after expanding the use of such a protocol for any immediate expander/implant reconstruction in a patient undergoing PMRT. METHODS: The timing for advanced breast cancer involves immediate reconstruction with a tissue expander, complete tissue expansion, radiotherapy (RT) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy starting 2-3 months after mastectomy, one or two fresh fat-grafting sessions at least 6 weeks after RT, and an expander-implant exchange with anterior capsulectomy at least 3 months after the completion of fat grafting. The timing for early breast cancers with specific risk factors involves immediate reconstruction with a tissue expander, complete tissue expansion during postoperative chemotherapy, RT 6 months after mastectomy, one or two fat-grafting sessions 6 weeks after RT, and an expander-implant exchange with anterior capsulectomy at least 3 months after the completion of fat grafting. From 2008 to 2012, 16 patients undergoing total mastectomy and immediate expander-implant breast reconstruction with subsequent PMRT were treated according to the CUH protocol. RESULTS: The results have been extremely encouraging, with rates of ulceration and implant exposure in the radiotreated area dropping to 0 %. These results were retrospectively compared with those for a control group of 16 patients who underwent immediate implantation of an expander. In this latter group, the extrusion rate of the implant in the end was 31.25 %, and this was statistically significant (p < 0.03). The shape and symmetry also were significantly better in the lipofilled patients. CONCLUSION: Protective lipofilling on irradiated expanders appears to be a valid technique for avoiding ulceration and implant exposure after PMRT while allowing a complete expansion. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Clinical study of peroneal artery perforators with computed tomographic angiography: implications for fibular flap harvest.

PURPOSE: Previous studies of cutaneous perforators of the peroneal artery have shown great variability, and attest to the significant anatomical variability in this region. Furthermore, the vascular anatomy of the region has been considered unreliable in the prediction of ideal perforator topography. Preoperative imaging has been suggested as a means for improving preoperative awareness, with Doppler ultrasound and eco-colour (duplex) ultrasound as useful tools. Multi-detector row computed tomographic angiography (CTA or angio CT), has emerged as a significant improvement, providing non-invasive operator-independent details of the vascular anatomy. We utilised this tool to perform an in vivo, anatomical study of the peroneal artery perforators, and demonstrating the usefulness of CTA in planning the osteocutaneous free fibula flap. METHODS: Forty-one consecutive patients (82 limbs) underwent CTA of the lower limb vasculature, with the anatomical details of the peroneal artery cutaneous perforators assessed. RESULTS: CTA was able to demonstrate the size, course and penetration pattern of all perforators over 0.3 mm in diameter, with measurements for perforators over 0.8 mm diameter recorded for analysis. Of 171 such perforators, accurate identification of the size (mean diameter 1.91 mm), course (59.6% septocutaneous, 29.2% musculocutaneous and 11.1% septomusculocutaneous) and location was achieved. CONCLUSION: The vascular anatomy of peroneal artery perforators is highly variable, and thus there is a role for preoperative imaging. CTA can demonstrate cases where there is aberrant or non-preferred anatomy, or select the limb of choice for harvest.

Current state of the art in perforator flap imaging with computed tomographic angiography.

Computed tomographic angiography (CTA) has become increasingly adopted for preoperative imaging in perforator flap surgery, as it has been shown to improve operative outcomes and decrease operating times prior to deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap and anterolateral thigh perforator flap surgery. Current technologies are readily available for the preoperative imaging of all perforator flaps, however only sporadic reports of the use of CTA for the imaging of other perforators have been described. We describe our experience with 325 CTAs performed for the preoperative imaging of perforators prior to 370 perforator flaps throughout several body regions. The scanning techniques, software reconstructions and technical issues are explored. In all cases, CTA was scored by the radiologist as at least "sufficient", and described as "optimal" in the majority of cases. Similarly, the surgeon described the correlation of imaging to operative findings as at least "good", and described the correlation as "optimal" in the majority of cases. As such, a standardized protocol for the use of CTA prior to perforator flap surgery is provided, which has been shown to be successful prior to a range of perforator flap operations.

Angio computed tomography preoperative evaluation for anterolateral thigh flap harvesting.

The vascular anatomy of the anterolateral thigh flap (ALTF) has many possible variations, and none of the currently used mapping techniques (eg, Echo Color Doppler) gives a thorough knowledge of all details. Among the last generation of angiographic diagnostic techniques, multi detector computed tomography, popularly known as Angio CT, has emerged as an outstanding noninvasive operator independent option, and has been described for deep inferior epigastric perforator and pedicled transverse rectus abdominis muscle planning. This study was conducted to evaluate its usefulness prior to ALTF harvesting.Nine consecutive patients were considered for oral or lower extremity reconstruction with the ALTF. After written informed consent was obtained from all patients, a preoperative Angio-CT study was performed for surgical planning. Accurate identification of septocutaneous or musculocutaneous perforator vessels was achieved and their location, course, and anatomic variations were reported and influenced surgery. Angio CT allows a complete vascular study of the donor area of the ALTF and evaluation of the best perforator vessels before surgery allows surgeons to get an ideal planning of the flap. This imaging method is currently proposed to every patient undergoing ALT flap reconstruction.

Preoperative Angio-CT preliminary study of the TRAM flap after selective vascular delay.

BACKGROUND: The pedicled TRAM (pTRAM) flap is one of the best options for autologous breast reconstruction, but vascular complications reported in the standard versions are about 30%. To reduce complication rate, especially in high-risk patients, surgical delay has been suggested. Individual precise preoperative location and evaluation of perforating vessels and of variations of the diameter of the deep superior epigastric artery (DSEA) are highly desirable for improving surgical strategy. Previous reports using color duplex scanning, although generally confirming the validity of the delay maneuver, have showed several pitfalls. The aim of this report was to demonstrate the usefulness of multidetector computed tomography angiography (MDCTA) for preoperative planning in patients undergoing pTRAM flap breast reconstruction after selective vascular delay. METHODS: Three patients were considered for breast reconstruction with the pTRAM flap. An MDCTA was performed before and after selective delay to locate the muscle perforators and to show increase in DSEA diameter. Axial images, multiplanar reconstruction, and 3D volume images were analyzed. RESULTS: Accurate identification of the main perforators was achieved. Location, course, and anatomic variations of DSEA were reported. The average increase in diameter of the DSEA was 29.3%. CONCLUSION: Preoperative planning of pTRAM flap with MDCTA allows surgeons to visualize and locate the dominant perforators and to select the best DSEA. Consequently, the choice between the homolateral or contralateral rectus muscle is facilitated. The high sensitivity and specificity and the ease of interpreting data have made MDCTA a highly promising diagnostic tool for planning a pTRAM flap.