Radiology, Vol 188, 457-462, Copyright © 1993 by Radiological Society of North America
Distinction between postsurgical changes and carcinoma by means of stereotaxic fine-needle aspiration biopsy after reduction mammaplasty
JS Mitnick, MF Vazquez, KP Plesser, PI Pressman, MN Harris, SR Colen and DF Roses
Department of Radiology, Tisch Hospital, New York University Medical Center, New York.
Stereotaxic fine-needle aspiration biopsy (SFNAB) was performed to evaluate
suspicious mammographic findings (31 stellate lesions, 20 regions of
grouped calcifications, two nodules, and one area of prominent trabecular
markings) in 54 patients who had undergone reduction mammaplasty. SFNAB
findings were correlated with findings in histologic specimens whenever
possible; the cytologic samples were classified as malignant, atypical, or
benign. In 22 lesions, the abnormalities on mammograms were considered
highly suspicious for malignancy. In the 32 others, the degree of suspicion
was lower, but these lesions had a change in appearance since acquisition
of the first postoperative mammogram. SFNAB enabled diagnosis of
adenocarcinoma in five women. Patients who have undergone mastectomy with
reconstruction of one breast and mammaplasty in the other are at higher
risk for development of contralateral breast cancer, as are all patients
who have had such cancer. SFNAB is reliable for evaluation of suspicious
mammographic abnormalities that develop after mammaplasty and findings that
change after acquisition of the first postoperative mammogram.
