Patient - Breast Reconstruction

« Return To Breast Reconstruction

Click on an image below to see a larger version.

Before

This lady had cancer in her right breast and elected to have both breasts removed. She was not sure how she would feel about not having breasts so she elected to go without immediate reconstruction. After a few months looking at her bare chest, she decided that she very much wanted reconstruction. Because of her weight, she is a poor candidate to do this using her own tissue; her surgical risks and the technical obstacles to the surgery are great. We decided to go with placement of tissue expanders followed by implants later. 

After

She is shown three months after getting her permanent implants, which was done five months after the tissue expanders were put in. She did not feel that she needed to have nipple/areola reconstruction so I suggested we put on a temporary applique so she could see how her new breasts looked with nipples and areolae. She liked this and is going to let me know if she wants to complete the reconstruction or go without this final step. There are many ways to reconstruct a nipple/areola complex, ranging from simple tattooing to full, three dimensional reconstruction with small flaps and grafts.