Before and after bilateral breast reconstruction revision in a 52 year old breast cancer survivor who had previously undergone bilateral mastectomies, chemotherapy and right chest wall radiation.
She had uncomfortable submuscular implants. The right implant had failed due to infection and required urgent removal. Her left breast implant had bottomed out and were creating pain and deformity by sitting on her ribs.
Unfortunately, she was never offered a flap reconstruction – despite the fact that she had a ton of lower abdominal skin and fat! Thankfully, she took it upon herself to research her options – she was elated to learn she had other options such as the DIEP flap.
Her surgery involved removal of her malpositioned breast implants, replacement of her pectoralis major muscles to the chest wall, and microvascular transplantation of skin and fat from her lower belly to her chest as DIEP flaps.
One year later, bilateral nipple and areola reconstructions completed her procedure together with fat grafting and donor site contouring using liposuction. Follow up photos are shown a year and a half after her DIEP flap surgery.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
