Do doctors take a surgical pathology during breast reductions?

Question

Is it common practice for a dr to send off tissue during a breast reduction? What would they be looking for?

Bianca Knoll, MD · Answer

Yes, it is common practice to send the removed breast tissue during a breast reduction to the pathology lab to exclude any breast malignancy. Although this is a rare entity, it is reported. Having your breast tissue examined by a pathologist, is an additional safety step. I hope this information helps.Kind regards

Stephen T. Greenberg, MD, FACS · Answer

Thank you rubytuesb for your question.  I always send the breast tissue out for pathology.  Typically we just want to make sure there are no cancerous cells or abnormal cells to be worried about. Hope this helped.

Stephen M. Krant, MD, FACS · Answer

Whenever a breast reduction is performed the tissue from each breast is sent to pathology for weight of specimen and for microscopic evaluation. The patient should be told pre-op that this will be done, so that there are no surprises.
I have had several patients who have pre-op mammograms that are normal and that the tissue looks "normal", but the pathology has revealed breast cancer (in-situ and/or invasive). The patients then were sent to an oncologist and general surgeon to treat the problem. By doing this protocol, the breast cancer can be detected early and the patient can be "cured" with early treatment!

Ronald J. Edelson, MD · Answer

Sending any removed breast tissue to a pathologist is standard to make sure there is no breast cancer.  I make sure my patients are aware there is an extra fee from the pathologist so there are no surprises.

Gary L. Ross, MBChB, FRCS · Answer

Every plastic surgeon will advise differently. You should discuss this with your PS. Personally I send every breast reduction specimen for assessment pathologically in order to 100% confirm that the tissue is normal. It is mined to reassure both you and the surgeon.

Genevieve F. Caron, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question,
Yes pathology tissue is usually send to pathology during a breast reduction to look for any anomaly. And yes sometimes we discover cancer cell, which is mostly good for the patients as it is often an early and treatable stage.
Best Wishes
Dr Genevieve FCaron, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
Montreal.Canada

Larry Lickstein, MD · Answer

Unfortunately, breast pathology is common in our society and most breast disease is asymptomatic until in a more advanced stage.  That is the reason for the recommendation for screening mammograms, and that is also the rationale for pathologic evaluation of reduction specimens.  The appearance of the tissue is inspected by a pathologist and then samples are evaluated under the microscope to look at cell morphology.  This is mandated by many institutions and recommended by most plastic surgeons.  While the diagnosis of an unexpected malignancy is thankfully rare, there can also be findings under the microscope of risk factors that may affect the method or frequency of screening for a patient in the future.

Richard Bloom, MBBS (Hons), FRACS · Answer

Hi there Rubytues and thanks for posting.I would say it is absolutely routine for all breast tissue to be sent for pathology after a breast reduction.The pathologist will be looking for any abnormal cells or cancerous cells. It is however rare to find anything ( 1 in 4000 cases)As part of your preop assessment your surgeon should also assess your breast cancer risk and send you for a mammogram preop if there are any concerns.Richard

Curtis Wong, MD · Answer

your breast tissue is routinely sent (some facilities require it be sent) in for pathology to confirm the weight minimums have been met and that there is no breast cancer (1-2% chance of finding them on reduction specimens).  If you are doing this cosmetically, some surgeons will ask you to make the decision as to whether your tissue goes in or not... and if you're low risk and accepting of the risks, discarding your tissue can be done.

Andrew T. Cohen, MD, FACS · Answer

Yes it is very necessary to send the tissue to rule out any kind of abnormal pathology.  I send the tissue to a good pathologist just to make sure .   You want to rule out any chance of a malignancy and also we need to document that the tissue was removed for the insurance company if it is an insurance case. Good luck!

Do doctors take a surgical pathology during breast reductions?

Answers (20)

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