FROM LEFT: Gabriala Andrews, Dr. Jeremie Arash Tabrizi and Danyal Ahsan
Doha: Student researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar (WCM-Q) have contributed to better understanding a minimally invasive breast reconstruction surgery for recovering breast cancer patients.
The highly innovative new surgical technique involves taking fat tissue from the hip or abdominal area and injecting it into the breast throughout a series of short operations, each lasting less than one hour.
While it has been used for several years for many patients, it is not yet considered a gold standard protocol. Dr. Jeremie Arash Tabrizi, WCM-Q’s Professor of Genetic Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Dr. Kaïs Razzouk, Gynecologist/Oncological Surgeon at the Santa Maria Breast Institute in Nice, have set-up a specific research programme aimed at demonstrating the technique’s efficiency, called an autologous fat graft.
Fourth-year medical students Gabriala Andrews and Danyal Ahsan, analyzed thousands of data points to provide valuable information to Drs. Tabrizi and Razzouk, allowing them to adjust the procedure to maximize its effectiveness, minimize the risk of complications, and safeguard patients’ mental health.
Dr. Tabrizi said: “The students did fantastic work in analyzing a substantial amount of data to give Dr. Razzouk and me precious guidance. Their input has been remarkably useful to our work to refine and optimize this new procedure.”
Reconstruction of the breast or breasts after a mastectomy and radiotherapy treatment is an essential part of the recovery process for many women who have had breast cancer, helping to provide psychological ‘closure’ on a distressing experience.
The new approach is far less invasive than the two most common surgical breast reconstruction procedures, in which a flap of tissue and muscle is taken from either the back or the abdomen and grafted into the breast.
These operations can take up to five hours or more, inflict significant scarring, have a long recovery time, and usually require a stay of several nights in hospital. In contrast, the new approach causes minimal scarring and can be performed daily, allowing patients to have the surgery and go home the same day.
The process also helps repair tissue damaged by radiation treatment, making insertion of a prosthesis more likely to succeed, should the patient wish to pursue that option.
Dr. Tabrizi said that the students analyzed various data points, such as the volume of fat that was transferred from the hips to the breast in each procedure. The students compared this with the procedure’s outcomes based on factors such as patient satisfaction, cosmetic appearance, and incidence of complications such as bleeding or infection. This analysis allowed the surgeons to fine-tune the volume of fat they transferred to achieve the best overall results.
The students also found out that the mode of communication with the patient is essential. Because the process is based on a gradual reconstruction, patients sometimes felt disappointed or underwhelmed by the results of the first procedure, the students found.
To counter this, Dr. Tabrizi and Dr. Razzouk developed a new communications protocol to help patients understand that the process takes a little longer than conventional surgery. It achieves equal or better cosmetic results while being far less invasive and carrying less risk of complications with time. This small innovation in the communications strategy significantly improved levels of patient satisfaction. Dr. Tabrizi and Dr. Razzouk have now performed the new procedure approximately 300 times between them at two facilities in France, one in Nice and one in Paris.
Student Gabriala said: “It was enriching to be able to contribute to such an exciting and worthwhile innovation in reconstructive surgery for recovering breast cancer patients.”
