Breast Reconstruction After Radiation. Will 415cc be a full C?

Hello!  Thank you for your question.  Knowing that you will have radiation, it is a very reasonable decision to have the reconstruction that you had and still have excellent results.  While your expanders are in place, I would continue with creams and lotions to the radiated areas as well as massage of the area, in hopes of keeping the scarring to a minimum.  Afterwards, your plastic surgeon will continue with the 2nd stage of your reconstruction, at which time will likely remove as much scarring as possible to give you the best result.  Best wishes for a great outcome!After radiation, you have a slightly increased rate of complications including wound problems, infections, thinning of the tissue, and decreased vascularity to the skin/tissue of the area.  The best method to reconstruct a breast following radiation therapy is with a flap, if you have failure of your implant-based breast reconstruction.  The flap, which is skin, fat, and sometimes muscle, will serve to bring in healthy, well-vascularized tissue to the chest/breast area that will significantly ameliorate the radiation issues compounding the problem.  Microsurgical perforator flaps (such as the DIEP flap and SGAP/IGAP flap) are the newest and most-innovative procedures in breast reconstruction today.  As these are muscle-sparing flaps, the pain, morbidity, and complications such as those above, of these procedures are much less.  They are highly-complex procedures that few plastic surgeons performed and consult with one who is well-versed, trained, and skilled in these procedures if you are interested.  There are many options to breast reconstruction including implant-based and flap-based procedures.  Flap reconstruction is usually recommended, but there are several centers who perform implants following radiation with great success and results.  I typically prefer flaps, such as the DIEP flap.  Best wishes for a great outcome!

In the most current issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, a new study shows very high rate of implant based failure related to radiation.  There are some nuances of the article that I won't get into, but be prepared to deal with increased risk of implant loss, infection, capsular contracture.  Though each patient is different, make sure that your PS is well versed in managing issues related to radiation and implant based reconstruction.  Autologous (flap) recon, can be used to salvage a poor or failed outcome due to radiation.

Mastectomies are performed to remove all of the breast tissue, including your tumor. Lumpectomies remove only the tumor and a small amount of surrounding normal breast tissue. Lumpectomies are always followed by radiation to eradicate any residual cancer cells. The surgical oncologist often recommends one of these two options to the patient, but sometimes either option is available.
After mastectomy, breast reconstruction may be performed in multiple steps, encompassing 3-4 procedures over approximately one year. The stages consist of:


Building the breast mound to give the shape of the breast on your chest.


Revising the reconstructed breast for improved contour and procedures to improve symmetry between your breasts.


Building the papule of the nipple


Tattooing the areola
There are two ways to build the breast mound: implant-based and tissue-based. For breast reconstruction using implants, an adjustable tissue expander is placed beneath the skin of the breast and periodically, over several weeks to months, a saline solution is injected to slowly stretch the overlaying skin. These injections of saline are performed in the office and typically cause minimal discomfort, similar to a sore muscle, that resolves over 1-2 days. After the ideal breast size is achieved, a more permanent breast implant, filled with saline or silicone gel, is inserted in place of the tissue expander to give a softer and more natural-appearing result. The procedure to exchange your tissue expander for a permanent implant is typically performed as an outpatient and has a healing time of approximately one week. Implant-based breast reconstruction is not a good option for patients who have been treated with radiation because of poor cosmetic outcomes and a high likelihood of healing problems.
The other technique for breast reconstruction is to use the patient's own tissue to recreate the shape of a breast. You may see this technique referred to as "flap reconstruction," autologous reconstruction, or "free flap reconstruction." Specific names that you may see are those referring to use of tissue from the abdomen: Transverse Rectus Abdominus Myocutaneous flaps (TRAM), free TRAM, muscle-sparing TRAM, Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator flaps (DIEP) and others.
With autologous tissue reconstruction, skin, fat and sometime muscle from the abdomen, thighs or other parts of the body are utilized to reconstruct the breast mound. This healthy tissue replaces tissue that is lost with a mastectomy and can help the body to heal, even after damage caused by radiation. The most commonly used tissue for autologous reconstruction is the skin and fat from the abdomen, as this best replicates the breast tissue that has been lost. This procedure tightens the abdomen where tissue is removed and results in a long scar, extending from hipbone to hipbone.
There are numerous variations on the technique that is used to move the abdominal tissue to the chest for breast reconstruction. Some surgeons rotate the belly tissue to the chest, leaving an attachment at the ribcage, a procedure called a "pedicled TRAM." Surgeons at Plastic Surgery Northwest use a newer procedure, known as the "free TRAM" where the tissue is completely separated from the body before it is moved to the chest, regaining it's blood flow when small blood vessels from the abdominal tissue are sewn to blood vessels in the chest. This technique is known as the free TRAM, the muscle-sparing TRAM, or the DIEP flap, depending on the amount of abdominal muscle that is moved with the skin and fat.
Sometimes a woman may not be able to use her abdominal tissue for their breast reconstruction due to prior surgery, a paucity of abdominal fat, or other factors. These patients may be able to use inner thigh, buttock, or other tissue to replace the lost breast tissue. Tissue based breast reconstruction operations are much longer than operations to place implants for breast reconstruction and have a lengthy recovery time of 1-3 months. However, your own tissue yields the most natural appearance and a result that can endure for decades.
Lumpectomy, the removal of a tumor with a small amount of surrounding breast tissue, is the other form of surgical breast cancer treatment. This is sometimes called "breast conserving therapy." After lumpectomy, the breast is treated with radiation to eliminate residual cancer cells. Although treatment with lumpectomy and radiation does not remove all breast tissue, this treatment may result in changes to the breast appearance. These changes are most noticeable in women with smaller breasts or larger tumors and may result in significant distortion of the breast. Unfortunately, radiation therapy changes the breast's ability to heal after future surgery and can limit the reconstructive options available if a patient has a poor aesthetic outcome. Reconstruction after lumpectomy and radiation typically involves bringing in tissue from a non-radiated areas.