Breast carcinomas are the most frequent form of cancer in French women. Following a total mastectomy, only an estimated 25% of patients wish to undergo breast reconstruction. After mammary volume reconstitution, the plastic surgeon often attempts to harmonize the two breasts by carrying out contralateral reduction mammaplasty (CRM). In the literature, the incidence of occult contralateral carcinomas incidentally discovered in surgical specimens ranges from 1.12 to 4.5%. The main objective of this study was to evaluate occurrence of carcinoma in the CRM specimens in the framework of a breast reconstruction operation. The secondary objective was to determine the consequences of the incidentally discovered carcinoma in the contralateral breast.

This was a 6-year, bicentric, retrospective study involving women having undergone breast cancer surgery who later underwent contralateral reduction mammaplasty (CRM), that is to say reconstruction aimed at harmonization of the two breasts.

Three hundred and nineteen patients were included in the study. Mean age during the CRM was 55years (29–79). Mean weight of the surgical specimens was 323grams (12–2500). Incidence of occult carcinomas found in the specimens was 0.94% (3 patients). The mean age for these 3 cases was 58years (47–64). All 3 patients had superior pedicle mammaplasty. One of the patients benefited from monobloc resection with orientation of the surgical specimen. In the other 2 cases, there existed 3 surgical resection specimens; in one case, they were oriented; in the other, they were not. In all 3 cases, the histological findings were unifocal ductal carcinomas in situ (DCIS). Mean tumor size was 5.7mm (3–9). Only the patient having had monobloc resection with orientation of the specimen underwent salvage surgery, which consisted in partial mastectomy, otherwise known as secondary lumpectomy. Adjuvant radiotherapy was administered to all of the patients. After 17months of mean follow-up (12–22), no recurrence was found in any of the three cases.

Incidence of occult contralateral breast carcinomas after symmetrization CRM approximates 1%. Our observations are in agreement with the data in the literature. Incidence is greater than in mammaplasty carried out for esthetic or functional reasons; this is probably due to the higher age and the previous breast cancer history of the breast reconstruction population. Monobloc resection and orientation of the surgical specimens with surgeon's knots facilitate precise pinpointing of the occult carcinoma. A secondary lumpectomy may take place when margins of excision are invaded or inadequate.