Acute and persistent post-operative pain following mastectomy: a descriptive study in a tertiary hospital cohort.

Aims: Post mastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS) can have significant negative effects on patients' quality of life after mastectomy. The estimated prevalence of PMPS varies widely and there is little data from a New Zealand population. This limits clinicians' ability to meaningfully describe and discuss pain-related complications of mastectomy peri-operatively.

Ischaemic heart disease following conventional and hypofractionated radiation treatment in a contemporary breast cancer series.

Introduction: We report the incidence of ischaemic cardiac toxicity in a contemporary cohort of patients receiving conventional (CFRT) or hypofractionated (HFRT) radiation after surgery for early breast cancer and investigate the interplay of cardiac risk factors and fractionation.

Methods: Included were patients receiving external beam radiation treatment from 2002 to 2006 at the Christchurch public hospital. Hospital coding databases, oncology databases and medical records were reviewed for baseline characteristics, treatment details and outcomes.