Before and after right delayed breast implant reconstruction with left balancing breast reduction and lift in a 63-year-old breast cancer survivor. She was never offered breast reconstruction at the time of her breast cancer diagnosis nearly thirty years before when she was 36 years old and pregnant, despite not needing chemotherapy or radiation for her small tumor.
She also was not offered nipple and areola preservation or oncoplastic reconstruction such as a lumpectomy with local tissue rearrangement (reconstruction by breast reduction and lift), although that would have been a reasonable option for reconstruction.
When she visited our office, we discussed the option of autogenous tissue reconstruction such as a DIEP flap, but she chose to have an implant to avoid more extensive surgery with additional scars and longer downtime. Her aesthetic goals for reconstruction included to be lifted and a little smaller than her current left breast size and shape.
A smooth round permanent and postoperatively adjustable implant was placed on the right on top of the muscle, in the prepectoral position. A breast reduction and lift reduced the size of the left breast and lifted it higher up on the chest. Liposuction removed excess fat from her armpits and bra rolls.
At a second outpatient procedure, nipple reconstruction was achieved through the nipple sharing technique, where a piece of the left nipple was moved to the right as a free nipple graft. Medical tattoo created a new areolar circle on the right.
Follow up photos are shown 3 years after surgery. She is grateful that she was a candidate for breast reconstruction, even decades after her cancer treatment. So long as a patient is fully informed about surgery, is healthy enough to have surgery and has available downtime for recovery, it is reasonable to consider delayed breast reconstruction.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
