EVALUATION OF AUTOGENOUS TISSUE BREAST RECONSTRUCTION USING MRI

Recent controversy encountered with silicone breast implants has incre ased the use of autogenous tissue for breast reconstruction following mastectomy. Surveillance of patients who have undergone autogenous tis sue reconstruction is important in the evaluation of recurrent or new cancer. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has proven to be a useful tec hnique in the delineation of soft tissues and provides excellent resol ution. Recently, MRI has been reported to be a valuable diagnostic ima ging modality for the evaluation of augmented breast implant patients with regard to implant rupture detection, silicone granuloma identific ation, and silicone gel migration delineation. In this study, various autologous tissue donor sites currently available for breast reconstru ction were imaged by MRI. The following donor flaps were included: fle ur-de-lis, TRAM, gluteal, and tenser fasciae latae. A total of 10 clin ical cases were investigated. The anatomic basis of each flap type is illustrated, and various tissue components of flap tissue (skin, fat, and muscle) are demonstrated on MRI scan. Anatomic knowledge of autoge nous tissue types and MRI appearance of the flap-breast-chestwall inte rface are critical in the surveillance and follow-up of breast cancer patients.