Alloplastic sternal replacement in malignant sternal tumors - Case report and review of the literature

Although not seldom as a palliative procedure, the preferred treatment of l ocally recurrent breast cancer or chest wall involvement by metastases is f ull-thickness chest wall resection, For closure and coverage of the defect various techniques are described. Autoplastic reconstruction is indicated f or smaller defects, while larger defects usually require alloplastic materi als, especially in case of chest instability after resection, We report the case of a 55-year-old female who developed a locally recurrent breast canc er with infiltration of the sternum 4 years after left sided ablation. En b loc resection of the chest wall including the complete sternum was followed by replacement with a computer-aided custom made polyethylene sternal pros thesis. With this procedure we stabilized the chest wall with protection of the underlying organs, avoided prolonged postoperative ventilation and ach ieved a satisfying cosmetic result.