Background: In the last decades, several surgical approaches have been used to improve the appearance and quality of life of female Poland syndrome patients. The aim of this study was to analyze the women's quality of life and long-term outcome after breast reconstruction.
Methods: Forty-nine women with Poland syndrome who were treated surgically between 1974 and 2007 received standardized questionnaires to evaluate their quality of life and satisfaction after surgical treatment.
Results: Patient response was 65%, with 32 completed questionnaires by 16 women who had pedicled latissimus dorsi myocutaneous (LDM) flaps, 12 with tissue expander or silicone implants, and 4 who had free transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flaps. Of these patients, 16 were satisfied or highly satisfied with their postoperative appearance (13 with LDM, 2 with prosthesis, and 1 with TRAM), 16 patients would recommend the same surgery to others under similar circumstances (10 with LDM, 5 with prosthesis, and 1 with TRAM), and 18 patients would choose the same method again (14 with LDM, 3 with prosthesis, and 1 with TRAM).
Conclusions: In our study, we found that satisfactory outcome in breast reconstruction was achieved particularly when using the LDM flap, which remains the only method that recreates the anterior axillary fold. Future studies on reconstruction methods with autogenous tissue (e.g., TRAM, deep inferior epigastric perforator [DIEP] flap) are needed, however, to analyze quality of life and long-term outcome in patients with Poland syndrome.