State of the Art: Reconstructing Partial Mastectomy Defects with Autologous Fat Grafting

It is estimated that more than 231,840 new cases of invasive breast cancers will be diagnosed in 2015. Many of these patients will be treated with lumpectomy and radiation or with mastectomy. Historically less than 25 percent of patients undergo immediate breast reconstruction, and autologous fat grafting represents a technique to help address some of the difficulties encountered in delayed reconstruction. The use of autologous fat grafting for reconstruction of soft-tissue defects is an increasingly common practice. Despite early concerns regarding the safety of autologous fat into the breasts, recent studies have shown this to be both safe and effective. This study examines the use of autologous fat to replace and reconstruct the tissues removed in a left lower pole partial mastectomy for cancer in a patient treated with radiation. This represents a minimally-invasive, staged approach to the correction of a difficult problem.