Using an anterolateral thigh flap in autologous breast reconstruction as a salvage procedure in a patient with adult-onset Still’s disease: A case report

Abstract

The deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap is an excellent option for microsurgical breast reconstruction. In selected cases, e.g. in case of previous abdominoplasty, other autologous options like transverse upper gracilis (TUG) or superior gluteal artery perforator (sGAP) flaps can be considered. The anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap is reported to be used as a salvage procedure in selected cases of breast reconstruction, where other flaps were not available or failed. We present a case of a 41-year-old woman who was undergoing bilateral breast reconstruction after bilateral mastectomies following implant-based mastopexie and multiple infections. She also suffered from an adult onset Still’s disease (AOSD) and was thus immunosuppressed. Microsurgical breast reconstruction was performed in a two-stage procedure. The left breast was reconstructed using a TUG flap. On the right side the TUG reconstruction failed due to vascular anomaly, so an ALT flap was successfully used instead. The whole procedure was accompanied by a multidisciplinary approach including a rheumatological complex treatment and enabled a successful bilateral breast reconstruction in this challenging case.

Keywords

• anterolateral thigh flap
• breast reconstruction
• deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap
• aosd
• interdisciplinary