Advances in Post Mastectomy Breast Reconstruction: Nipple Preservation

Mastectomy has changed a great deal over the years. Long gone are the radical mastectomies of your grandmother’s day which removed not only breast tissue but also extensive breast skin, lymph nodes, and underlying chest muscles. By the 1980s, the most common approach was the modified radical mastectomy, which left the chest muscles intact. Since then, the standard mastectomy is the simple mastectomy in which all of the chest muscles, most if not all of the lymph nodes, and most recently, the nipple and areola complex are all preserved. When combined with an immediate breast reconstruction at the time of the mastectomy, these techniques produce a superior cosmetic result while eliminating diseased tissue. Click HERE for the full article.