Reconstruction R8
Sequelae of conservative treatment
Correcting a quadrant defect and a distorted areola after lumpectomy and radiotherapy. Fat grafting fills and reshapes, over two sessions as a rule.
- Anaesthesia
- General
- Technique
- Fat grafting
- Sessions
- 2 as a rule
- Follow-up
- Clinical and radiological
Figures confirmed by the surgeon; they vary from case to case and are specified in consultation.
The essentials
The four questions that come up
- What are sequelae of conservative treatment?
- Breast-conserving treatments — removal of the tumour and radiotherapy — can leave aesthetic sequelae: a defect in one quadrant of the breast and a distortion of the areola. These breasts have generally been irradiated.
- How are they corrected?
- Fat grafting is the option most often chosen: it fills the defect and reshapes the distorted area, without foreign material and without the weight of flap surgery. Recourse to a latissimus dorsi flap or to implants remains possible.
- How many sessions are needed?
- Two sessions are generally needed. Grafted fat is stable after three months, and that interval sets the spacing between sessions.
- What if the deformity is severe?
- Completing the mastectomy, with immediate reconstruction by implant or by flap, is then to be discussed. That decision is taken by the board, and it changes the nature of the project.
What breast-conserving treatment can leave behind
Today’s breast-conserving treatments are far less deforming than they once were. We are nonetheless confronted with their sequelae.
They take the form of a defect in one quadrant of the breast and a distortion of the areola. These breasts have generally been irradiated, which governs the choice of corrective technique: irradiated skin is less supple and tolerates tension poorly.
These sequelae are no small matter for the patient. The treatment worked, the illness is behind her, and it is the shape of the breast that keeps reminding her of what she went through.
How they are corrected
Fat grafting is the option most often chosen in this indication. It fills the defect and reshapes the distorted area of the breast, without foreign material and without the weight of flap surgery.
Two sessions are generally needed. Fat brings two things at once here: the missing volume, and an improvement in tissue quality, which counts particularly on an irradiated breast.
Recourse to a latissimus dorsi flap or to implants remains possible depending on the case. The choice is made on examination, according to the extent of the defect and the state of the skin.
The monitoring that goes with it
One condition is not negotiable: these procedures must be carried out in a multidisciplinary setting, with reliable, regular and thorough clinical and radiological monitoring of the breasts.
Cancer follow-up does not stop because an aesthetic correction is undertaken. It frames it. That is what sets this surgery apart from ordinary aesthetic surgery, and it is what the consultation establishes first.
The most marked cases
Where the deformity is severe, local correction may no longer suffice.
Completing the mastectomy, with immediate reconstruction by implant or by flap, is then to be discussed. That decision is taken by the board, and it changes the nature of the project: the treated breast is no longer being corrected, it is being rebuilt.
Frequently asked questions
What patients ask
These answers reflect the content written and validated by the surgeon. Each one is written to stand alone, question by question.
How many sessions to correct sequelae?
Can an irradiated breast be operated on?
Does breast monitoring continue afterwards?
What if the deformity is severe?
Gallery
Photographs for information only — neither a commitment nor a guarantee of result. Every situation is unique and assessed in consultation.
Meet us
Consultation
A first consultation is there to understand your request and tell you what is possible — including when the answer is that it is better to do nothing.
Clinique Esthétique Ferrère
16 ter rue Ferrère
33000 Bordeaux
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In cosmetic surgery, French law requires a detailed written quote and a cooling-off period of at least fifteen days between the consultation and the operation. No deposit may be requested during that period. Two consultations are required before any operation.