Internal mammary recipient site breast cancer recurrence following delayed microvascular breast reconstruction

The internal mammary vessels are a popular recipient site for microsurgical anastomoses of free flap breast reconstructions. We, however, observed 3 patients undergoing internal mammary vessel delayed free flap breast reconstruction that subsequently developed tumor recurrence at this site. We reviewed their characteristics to determine whether there was a correlation between delayed microsurgical reconstruction and local recurrence.

A retrospective review of a single surgeon's delayed free flap breast reconstructions using the internal mammary vessels was conducted over a 7-year period to identify the time intervals between mastectomy and delayed breast reconstruction and between delayed breast reconstruction and recurrence.

Three patients developed local recurrence at the site of the microvascular anastomoses following delayed breast reconstruction. All patients had been disease-free following mastectomy. The median time interval between mastectomy and delayed breast reconstruction was 28 months (range = 20-120 months) while that between delayed breast reconstruction and local recurrence was 7 months (range = 4-10 months). Two patients died from metastatic disease, 36 and 72 months following their local recurrence. One patient remains alive 44 months after reconstruction.

Local tumor recurrence at the internal mammary vessel dissection site following delayed breast reconstruction raises the question whether these 2 events may be related. Specifically, could internal mammary vessel dissection undertaken for delayed microsurgical reconstruction predispose to recurrence in the internal mammary lymph nodes? Further research is needed to ascertain whether delayed breast reconstruction increases the risk of local recurrence in this patient group.