Long-term follow-up of quality of life following DIEP flap breast reconstruction.

Background: Sequelae due to breast cancer are very high and negatively impact patient quality of life (QoL). Although deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap has become a standard for autologous breast reconstruction (BR), there are limited data regarding long-term QoL. This study aimed to measure patient QoL more than 5 years after DIEP flap BR and compare the finding with two French reference samples. Methods: A cross-sectionnal study of QoL was performed in women who underwent DIEP flap BR between 1995 and 2007 using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short-form health survey s(SF-36). The first reference sample included subjects from the French general population (n=3308) and the second included cancer survivors with mastectomy with (n=70) or without (n=135) BR who took part in a French multi-centric study. Student's t-tests were used for statistical analyses, and differences were considered at a significance level of 0.05. Results: 111 respondents were analyzed among 186 eligible women. The mean follow-up period after reconstruction was 8.6 years (range, 5 to 15). There were no statistically significant differences in the QoL between women who underwent DIEP BR and the French general population from 45 to 64 years old. Five of the eight SF-36 dimensions were significantly better in the DIEP BR group in the 65- to 74-year-old cohort. In addition, QoL of our study population was significantly better than women who underwent mastectomy with or without any kind of BR. (C)2016American Society of Plastic Surgeons

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