Before and after bilateral DIEP flap breast reconstructions in a 55-year-old breast cancer survivor. You can see from her breast scars that she had been treated with several lumpectomies for bilateral invasive breast cancer.
Because she had positive margins after the last lumpectomies, she required additional breast tissue removal. She elected to have bilateral nipple sparing mastectomies (which also allowed her to avoid radiation therapy) and immediate breast reconstruction using her own breast tissue. She was a good candidate for DIEP flaps, which microvascularly transplants skin and fat from the lower abdomen to the chest wall by disconnecting and reconnecting tiny blood vessels under the microscope.
During a seven-hour procedure, the remainder of her breast tissue was removed, saving her nipples, and DIEP flaps were transplanted for reconstruction. 9 months later, she underwent liposuction contouring to removed excess fat from her armpits (axillary rolls), hips, pubic region to create improved aesthetics to her reconstruction and donor site.
Follow up photos are shown two and a half years after surgery. She is very grateful that her post-pregnancy belly allowed her to have breast reconstruction that used her own tissue and gave her improved symmetry without implants!
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
