Abstract P4-13-02: Exclusive fat grafting breast reconstruction after mastectomy: Aesthetic results, satisfaction and quality of life evaluation on 38 patients
Authors: Bordes V , Simorre M , Campion L , Lejeune F , Loirat Y , Dravet F , Bouffaut A-L 
Published: February 2018

Background: Autologous fat grafting has become a frequent, simply reproducible and low-risk technique in breast reconstruction. The potential risk of fat tissue transfer to the breast for oncologic patients remains to be discussed, but one must clearly distinguish the situation where there is a breast parenchyma left and where the whole gland has been removed, like in our study. Although lipotransfer has become very popular, only a limited number of case series have been reported up to date. The presented study evaluates aesthetic results and quality of life after exclusive fat grafting breast reconstruction.

Patients and methods: A retrospective study was performed in two French centers with five surgeons between February 2011 and June 2015. We included patients with prior breast cancer, treated by mastectomy and with a finished breast reconstruction with exclusive fat grafting. We excluded patients with implant or flap. For each patient, the aesthetic evaluation was threefold, performed by the patient, the surgeon and an extra person, using the same questionnaire. For the analysis of the cosmetic results, the patients, surgeons and the other person were asked to grade the result on a 0 to 10 scale, ranging from "very bad" to "very good". They were questioned about the global esthetic result, symmetry between the two breasts and reconstructed breast texture. Satisfaction was evaluated using a Breast-Q adapted questionnaire, elaborated by psycho-oncologists and surgeons. Quality of life was evaluated using WHOQOL-BREF 26. Statistical analysis was performed using stata 13.1 SE.

Results: We sent a questionnaire to 48 patients and we obtained 38 responses. The mean age of the patients was 52 years, 31 patients (81,6%) lived in couple and 29 patients (76,3%) were employed. We performed 190 fat grafting procedures with an average of 4,2 per patient. The mean total quantity of fat injected was 904 ml per patient with a mean quantity per procedure of 219 ml. The mean time between two procedures was 4,3 months. The average grade obtained for the global esthetic result was 7,3 +/- 1,8 out of 10 for patients, 7,6 +/-2 for the extra person and 7,9 +/- 1,4 for surgeons. For symmetry between the two breasts, the result was 7,1 +/- 1,9 and for the texture, it was 6,8 +/- 2,6. To the question "did the final result meet your expectations?” 81,5% (31/38) of the patients and 79% (30/38) of the surgeons said yes. Among the 29 patients having a professional activity, 86% (25/29) of patients were able to work between each fat grafting session. The handicap evaluation in the professional life for these patients from 0 "no handicap "to 10 " important handicap” showed a score of 2,24 +/-2,7. As for global quality of life evaluation, to the question: "how would you grade your quality of life?" 92,3 % (35/38) of the patients answered "good" or "very good" (vs. 72,0 % in the general population - p = 0.004).

Conclusion: Autologous fat grafting can be offered as a good alternative for total reconstruction after mastectomy with good aesthetic results and no deleterious impact on quality of life.

Citation Format: Bordes V, Simorre M, Campion L, Lejeune F, Loirat Y, Dravet F, Bouffaut A-L. Exclusive fat grafting breast reconstruction after mastectomy: Aesthetic results, satisfaction and quality of life evaluation on 38 patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-13-02.