A Study on Breast Reconstruction in a Developing Country: A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Techniques and Oncologic...

Breast cancer, with an incidence of 33.2 per 100,000 in Iranian population, is considered as the most common cancer in Iranian women. Nowadays, with the increasing survival rates, breast reconstruction has been integrated into surgical techniques of breast cancer treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the current status of breast reconstruction in Iranian population.

This retrospective study was conducted in Imam Hospital between January 2008 and June 2018. All the patients underwent breast reconstruction surgery. The trend of reconstruction and complication rates were 2 major outcomes. Logistic regression model was used to predict complications. Student t test was used to compare means.

Fifty-five patients underwent 60 autologous breast reconstruction surgeries and 152 patients underwent 193 prosthesis-based reconstruction surgeries. Most of cases were invasive ductal carcinoma ± ductal carcinoma in situ (126 cases, 68%). Among 253 surgeries in 207 patients, 98 cases (38.7%) were 2-stage implant, 91 (36.0%) were 1-stage implant, 3 (1.2%) were acellular dermal matrix + prosthesis, 31 (12.2%) were pedicled transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap, 25 (9.8%) were latissimus dorsi flap ± prosthesis, and 4 (15.8%) were latissimus dorsi flap. Among prosthesis-based reconstructions, chemotherapy could predict the occurrence of complications (odds ratio, 2.87; 95% CI, 1.07-7.68), whereas none of these factors could predict the occurrence of complications in autologous reconstructions. The most prevalent complication was seroma formation (48.5% of all complications). Overall complication rates (including major and minor) were higher among autologous reconstructions compared with prosthesis-based reconstructions (45.8% and 21.1%, respectively, P < 0.001).

The trend of breast reconstruction is changing in Islamic Republic of Iran as a developing country. Implant-based reconstruction has surpassed autologous reconstructions in recent years. In terms of complications, we observed higher rates among autologous reconstructions.