Breast conserving surgery (BCS) is now widely accepted as the treatment of choice in early breast cancer. The extent of local excision has been controversial, owing to the risk of local recurrence and cosmesis. To improve breast cosmetic appearance following quadrantectomy for breast cancer, we propose a surgical technique of volume replacement with latissimus dorsi muscle (LD) flap.

Twenty-eight patients underwent the immediate reconstruction of the defect with a LD flap after quadrantectomy for breast cancer between January 1999 and December 2000 at Soonchunhyang University Hospital. All patients had postoperative radiotherapy to the residual breast and, where appropriate, to the axilla. The mean tumor size was 2.38 cm (0.5 to 5.5 cm). And the mean age of patient was 39.2 years (18 to 69 years). Cosmetic outcome was evaluated by means of panel assessment and breast retraction assessment. Fivepanel scales were E0 to E4. BRA values were calculated by simple vector geometry employing the Pythagorean theorem.

23 cases were scored as E0 (excellent, 82.1%), 4 case as E1 (good) and 1 case as E2 (moderate) cosmetic results. BRA values for the patients ranged 0.5 to 3.5 cm with a mean of 1.2 cm and for a group of 30 control women values ranged from 0.4 to 1.8 cm with mean value of 0.9 cm. When panel scores and BRA values were compared, 23 cases of excellent (E0) scoring had under the 3.5 cm of BRA value. No one of cases had over 3.5 cm of BRA value. 23 cases of excellent (E0) scoring old had satisfactory cosmetic results by panel scoring and BRA value.

We concluded that the surgical technique of volume replacement with LD flap is useful for preventing breast deformity after quadrantectomy for breast cancer.