Empowering Patients Through Shared Decision Making in Breast Cancer Consultations.

Receiving a breast cancer diagnosis renders breast cancer consultations pivotal moments in a patient's journey, where decisions about treatment options, including breast reconstruction, can profoundly impact their physical and emotional well-being. Shared decision making (SDM) is a collaborative approach that involves healthcare professionals and patients working together to make decisions that align with the patient's values, preferences, and goals. SDM can hence lead to: 1.

A comparison of presentations and outcomes of salvage versus non-salvage abdominal free flap breast reconstructions-Results of a 15-year tertiary referral centre review.

Introduction: Salvage breast reconstruction with autologous tissue is becoming more prevalent due to a resurgence in implant-based procedures. The latter has caused a commensurate rise in failed or treatment-resistant prosthetic cases requiring conversion to free tissue transfers. Salvage reconstruction is often considered more challenging, owing to patient presentation, prior treatments and intraoperative difficulties.

Optimizing Fat Grafting Using a Hydraulic System Technique for Fat Processing: A Time and Cost Analysis.

 Many authors have researched ways to optimize fat grafting by looking for a technique that offers safe and long-term fat survival rate. To date, there is no standardized protocol. We designed a "hydraulic system technique" optimizing the relationship among the quantity of injected fat, operative time, and material cost to establish fat volume cutoffs for a single procedure.

Combining the Grisotti Flap With a Secondary Dermoglandular Pedicle for Partial Breast Reconstruction Following Contiguous Central-Inferior Segment Breast Cancer Excision.

A 61-year-old patient (38DD) with multifocal invasive ductal carcinomas requested breast-conserving surgery. An innovative two pedicle combination using a laterally-based Grisotti flap and an inferomedially-based secondary pedicle was designed to reconstruct a combined central breast (NAC included) and inferior segment resection defect. Satisfactory cosmesis with clear resection margins was achieved.

The Psychological Impact of Remote Communication on Body-Image Perception: Cosmetic Surgery on the Rise.

In recent times the number of requests for teleconsultations with plastic surgeons in private practice (70% in the UK and 64% in the USA) has increased. The correlation between this increase and the concept of "Zoom Boom" changing how we perceive our image is under speculation. However, this could also be linked to the psychological impact of the pandemic on patients' moods.

Touch-ups, Rejuvenation, Re-dos and Revisions: Remote Communication and Cosmetic Surgery on the Rise.

The way in which communication takes place has undergone significant change over the last year leading to alterations regarding the way we perceive our own personal image. Indeed, the increase in remote video interaction seems to have led to an increase in the number of requests for teleconsultations with plastic surgeons in private practice (70% in the UK and 64% in the USA), the so-called Zoom Boom. The reasons connected to this increase are still under investigation, but it is likely that patients' greater exposure to seeing their own image in online video communication for prolonged periods has highlighted what patients perceive as flaws and/or their self-image does not correspond to the same image that they see in the mirror.

Fault2SHA Central Apennines database and structuring active fault data for seismic hazard assessment.

We present a database of field data for active faults in the central Apennines, Italy, including trace, fault and main fault locations with activity and location certainties, and slip-rate, slip-vector and surface geometry data. As advances occur in our capability to create more detailed fault-based hazard models, depending on the availability of primary data and observations, it is desirable that such data can be organized in a way that is easily understood and incorporated into present and future models. The database structure presented herein aims to assist this process.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Surgical Management of Breast Cancer: Global Trends and Future Perspectives.

Introduction: The rapid spread of COVID-19 across the globe is forcing surgical oncologists to change their daily practice. We sought to evaluate how breast surgeons are adapting their surgical activity to limit viral spread and spare hospital resources.

Methods: A panel of 12 breast surgeons from the most affected regions of the world convened a virtual meeting on April 7, 2020, to discuss the changes in their local surgical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new case of radiation-induced breast angiosarcoma.

Introduction: Radiation-induced breast angiosarcoma is a severe but rare late complication in the breast-preserving management of breast cancer through surgery and radiotherapy. Often the initial diagnosis is complex given its relatively anodyne nature and the fact that it usually presents in the form of typically multifocal reddish-purple papular skin lesions.

Presentation Of The Case: We describe the clinical and pathologic findings of a 79-year-old woman, who developed a radiation-induced breast angiosarcoma after around 8 years.

The Role of CT Angiography in Assessing Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator Flap Patency in Patients With Pre-existing Abdominal Scars.

Background: Abdominal scars can affect the patency of deep inferior epigastric artery (DIEA) perforators and are a concern when planning free flap breast reconstruction (FFBR). Computed tomography angiography (CTA) is routinely used for preoperative DIEA flap imaging. We investigated CTA utility in predicting the most clinically useful DIEA perforators in scarred abdomens.

The effect of CT angiography and venous couplers on surgery duration in microvascular breast reconstruction: a single operator's experience.

Background: The use of CT angiography (CTA) or venous couplers (VCs) has led to shorter operative times in free flap breast reconstruction (FFBR). However, there are no reports on the effect of these two interventions relative to each other or combined.

Methods: Abdominal based FFBRs performed by a single surgeon before introduction of either intervention were compared to those with VC only, and those after the addition of CTA to VCs (CT-VC).

The Influence of Breast Cancer on the Distribution of Cherry Angiomas on the Anterior Thoracic Wall: A Case Series Study.

Background/aims: Cherry angiomas (CAs) are one of the most common vascular manifestations of the skin. By and large, these benign lesions often only represent an aesthetic problem. In the literature, few authors have focused on the pathogenesis of these lesions, and some risk factors have been identified, such as the presence of cutaneous and non-skin neoplasias.