Mammoplasty for symmetry in breast reconstruction and histologic assessment.

BACKGROUND In breast reconstruction, complementary surgery on the contralateral breast is sometimes necessary to obtain a satisfactory aesthetic result. This complementary mammoplasty for symmetry gives the surgeon the opportunity to verify the state of the mammary glandular tissue to rule out a possible occult tumour in the contralateral breast. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of borderline lesions and of in situ and invasive carcinoma in specimens of the contralateral breast in a mammoplasty for symmetry in patients with breast cancer. METHODS We conducted a retrospective study of 145 breast reconstructions with mammoplasty for symmetry conducted at the Tours Regional Teaching Hospital in France. RESULTS The glandular histologic result after mammoplasty was normal in 45.5% of patients, with benign pathologies in 38.9% and borderline lesions in 15.6% of patients. No invasive or in situ carcinoma was detected. CONCLUSION Systematic histologic analysis of glandular mammary tissue sampled after reduction mammoplasty in the particular context of breast reconstruction after breast cancer makes it possible to discover lesions that were not seen in presurgical evaluation. The early management of these borderline occult lesions could reduce the incidence of breast cancer in these at-risk patients.