Reconstructive and esthetic breast surgery after solid organ transplantation - a systematic review, proposal of a novel protocol and case presentations.

Introduction: Great advancements in solid organ transplantation (SOT) have allowed patients to have better chances to survive longer and enjoy a quality life after surgery. This increasing number of SOTs and improved long-term survival rates lead to an increasing demand for plastic, esthetic and reconstructive breast procedures.

Material and methods: A literature search following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and using searching terms related to esthetic and reconstructive breast surgery was conducted across three databases: PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar. Included articles were analyzed to extract data points of interest including patient age, type of surgery, organ transplanted, underlying conditions associated with organ transplantation, follow-up, immunosuppressive drugs and their side effects, perioperative management and complications related to the breast plastic procedures in SOT recipients.

Results: A total of 1,298 articles were retrieved from the mentioned electronic databases. Eight full articles were finally included in this systematic review. In these articles, a total of 41 cases of breast plastic surgery after solid organ transplantation were reported. Procedures were esthetic in nature in 26.83% of cases (11 of 41 cases) and reconstructive in 73.17% of them (30 of 41 cases). No deaths were reported.

Conclusions: Although esthetic and reconstructive breast surgery could be performed safely in SOT recipients, the dosage of immunosuppression and patient's overall health status with regard to the length and extent of the planned procedure should always be taken into account. From the literature data analysis, it is not possible to draw a statistical conclusion that the complication rate of surgery in immunosuppressed post-transplant patients is the same as in normal, not immunosuppressed population. Further and more valid clinical studies are warranted.