Background: Breast-conserving surgery plus radiotherapy is firmly established as a good and safe option for most women with early breast cancer. Cosmoses after Breast-conserving surgery depend on two main factors; the site of the lesion and the breast volume excised in relation to total breast volume. Latissimus dorsi miniflap is one of the various autologous tissue reconstructions that can replenishe loss of more than 25% of breast volume. The aim of our study is to evaluate the aesthetic outcome and complications of breast reconstruc-tion using latissimus dorsi miniflap augmentation after wide local excision of the tumor combined with axillary lymph node dissection.
Patients and Methods: The study involved twenty eight patients with breast cancer underwent conservative breast surgery in the form of wide local excision with safety margin with immediate reconstruction using Latissimus dorsi miniflap either by muscle only or musculocutaneous flap. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was given in some cases to reduce the tumor size and after surgery; all cases received eligible adjuvant therapy.
Results: Most of the patients (71.4%) were having T2 tumor, while (14.3%) of the patients had T1 tumor and (14.3%) had T3 tumor. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was given for 14 patients with overall response rate about 76.7%. Wide local excision with safety margin with immediate reconstruction using latissimus dorsi mini-flap was done. Seventeen patients had reconstruction with muscle only, while 11 patients had reconstruction by musculocutaneous flap. A deeply satisfied cosmetic result was achieved in (82.1%) and none of them subsequently required mastectomy. After median follow-up of 28 month, the progression free survival was 92.9% and the over all survival was 96.4%. No local recurrence was recorded.
Conclusion: Breast augmentation with autologous tissue comes into play by reducing the resultant deformity when the breast volume excised is significant. The Latissimus dorsi flap is the mainstay of oncoplastic breast surgery after partial mastectomy and it has low donor site morbidity, deep patient satisfaction and low and temporary radiation effects.