Chest wall infiltration is a critical prognostic factor in breast implant-associated anaplastic large-cell lymphoma affected patients.

BACKGROUND: Breast implant-associated anaplastic large-cell lymphoma is a rare disease with a favourable prognosis if adequately treated. Same staged patients have usually a similar prognosis and outcomes, but in our experience, IIA-staged patients have a wider prognosis with outcomes that vary from complete disease response to death. This study aimed to understand and identify all the factors that could influence the prognosis of this group of patients and verify if their prognosis matches the stage they belong to. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients in stage IIA have been divided into two subgroups: IIAb with lymphoma extension towards the glandular tissue and IIAcw with tumour extension towards the chest-wall. The overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) of 64 BIA-ALCL cases were evaluated for each staged group. RESULTS: Significant differences of OS and EFS between IIAb and IIAcw patients (log-rank p = 0.046 and log-rank p = 0.018, respectively) were observed and poor prognosis joined IIAcw- and IV-staged patients. CONCLUSION: Chest-wall infiltration is a critical prognostic factor in BIA-ALCL patients as it influences the possibility of performing a surgical radical tumour extirpation. Our results could represent valid assistance for the physicians in choosing the most appropriate BIA-ALCL prognostic category and treatment and could promote further wider studies to provide stronger evidence on a possible revision of the MDA TNM classification.

Late Hematoma after Breast Augmentation

Late capsular hematoma is one of the rare complication of augmentation mammoplasty. Although the cause has not unfolded yet, the possible damage of capsular vessels chafed against the textured prostheses is questioned. Reviewing the literatures, we present a 23-year-old female subjects to incidental swelling of the right breast a year later after augmentation mammaplasty with saline-filled textured prostheses. An MRI study confirmed intracapsular fluid collection sparing the prostheses. The exploration was followed and serosanguinous fluids was drained out of the intracapsular space, and then the existing prostheses were replaced with the smooth surface ones. In the 9 months since the last surgery the patient remained well without any further problem. Intensive massage of the breasts might be accounted to the probable cause of late hematoma in this case.