Before and after bilateral mastectomies and DIEP flap breast reconstruction in a 45-year-old woman with invasive breast cancer. She had recently undergone a left lumpectomy which had positive margins for cancer cells and needed a completion mastectomy. She chose to have a bilateral mastectomy, given the details of her cancer diagnosis.
She wanted to use her own tissue for reconstruction and had sufficient lower abdominal skin and fat to create two new breasts. A non-skin-sparing mastectomy was performed on both sides, and bilateral DIEP flaps reconstructed her breasts. After surgery, she underwent chemotherapy and later had nipple and areola reconstructions using the local flap technique with medical tattoo.
Follow up photos are shown 2 years after surgery. Her scars are fading, her swelling is resolving, and she feels “like herself again.” She has had loss of pigment from the medical tattoo that can be improved by a paramedical tattoo artist who has expertise in three-dimensional shading.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
