NIPPLE AREOLA RECONSTRUCTION

Course overview

BREAST CANCER IS THE MOST COMMON CANCER DIAGNOSIS IN WOMEN, WITH SURGICAL TREATMENT BEING A TENANT OF ITS CARE. FOLLOWING BREAST CANCER RESECTION, BREAST RECONSTRUCTION IS COMMONLY PERFORMED TO RESTORE THE BREAST TO ITS NATIVE APPEARANCE. IN THE CASE OF NON-NIPPLE-SPARING MASTECTOMY, CANCER INVOLVEMENT OF THE NIPPLE-AREOLAR COMPLEX (NAC), OR NAC COMPLICATIONS FOLLOWING PRIOR RECONSTRUCTION, THE NAC IS ABSENT ON THE RECONSTRUCTED BREAST. NIPPLE-AREOLAR COMPLEX RECONSTRUCTION IS THUS UNDERTAKEN VIA SEVERAL TECHNIQUES AND IS TYPICALLY PERFORMED AS THE LAST STEP IN BREAST RECONSTRUCTION. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE EVALUATION AND TREATMENT OF NAC ABSENCE WITH SUBSEQUENT NAC RECONSTRUCTION AND HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE MULTIPLE TECHNIQUES TO ACHIEVE A NATURAL-APPEARING NAC RECONSTRUCTION.