Bilateral breast reconstruction with two DIEP flaps: How the patients evaluate it?

Overview

Background:
Patients with hereditary risk have an up to 85 % probability of developing breast cancer before the age of 70. Bilateral mastectomy significantly decreases the risk of developing the disease but is considered too drastic a measure for most patients. For some patients, mastectomy followed by immediate reconstruction can be a solution in difficult oncological situations. From the point of long-term results, reconstruction with living tissue from the abdomen with perforator flaps seems to be most advantageous.

Aim:
This study aims to find out, using a questionnaire, how patients perceive and evaluate the results of a bilateral mastectomy followed by two abdominal perforator flaps from abdomen breast reconstruction.

Method and results:
A total of 55 patients underwent bilateral breast reconstruction with abdominal perforator flaps (DIEP) during the years 2002–2006. A questionnaire relating to the influence of mastectomy and reconstruction on the quality of life and aesthetic evaluation was sent to patients. 98.2 % of the patients returned the questionnaire. The majority of patients (88 %) evaluated the aesthetic results as good or excellent and 54 patients (96 %) would undergo this procedure again and they would also recommend it to other women.

Conclusion:
Bilateral DIEP breast reconstruction is well accepted and aesthetic results positively appreciated by patients who have undergone this operation. There is high satisfaction even in the group of unaffected women-carriers BRCA 1, 2 mutation. The results of this study support the idea, that bilateral prophylactic mastectomy followed by immediate DIEP reconstruction can also serve as primary surgical breast carcinoma prevention in our country.

Keywords:
prophylactic mastectomy, bilateral DIEP flaps breast reconstruction, BRCA 1, 2.