Abstract
BACKGROUND: Increasingly popular, prepectoral breast reconstruction preserves the pectoralis major muscle's anatomy and function. Although polyurethane-coated implants in this context have yielded encouraging results, their interplay with postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) is not well-documented, particularly considering PMRT's known adverse effects on implant-based reconstructions. The study aimed to evaluate the aesthetic outcomes and radiation therapy (RT) damage in patients undergoing prepectoral reconstruction with polyurethane-coated implants receiving PMRT, as well as the influence of mastectomy flap thickness on RT side effects. METHODS: In 47 patients receiving immediate breast reconstruction with prepectoral polyurethane-coated implants followed by PMRT, aesthetic results were assessed using the Likert scale, and RT damage was scored with the LENT-SOMA scale. The study retrospectively analyzed the impact of different RT techniques (3D vs. IMRT) and examined the correlation between mastectomy flap thickness and RT adverse effects. RESULTS: At 12-month follow-up, the mean Likert score for patients treated with IMRT/VMAT was 13.06 (SD: 2.55) compared to 11.79 (SD: 2.37) for those treated with the 3D technique. LENT-SOMA scores were 1.46 (SD: 1.13) for IMRT/VMAT and 3.11 (SD: 1.41) for 3D. A negative linear correlation was found between mastectomy flap thickness and RT damage. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary findings are favorable for the use of prepectoral polyurethane-coated implants in immediate breast reconstruction with PMRT, particularly when using IMRT and in patients with thicker mastectomy flaps. Level III, therapeutic study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .