Tufts Anatomy Yr-1

43 year old woman with right breast cancer and prior lumpectomy with reconstruction.

To understand this patient's reconstruction, it is important to review the muscles of the back as shown on Image A. The most superficial muscle that is not labeled on the image is the latissimus dorsi, which receives its blood supply from the thoracodorsal artery, arising in the axillary region. It's nerve is the thoracodorsal nerve, which arises from the posterior cord of the brachial plexus in the axillary region.

When a portion of the breast is removed as a treatment for breast cancer, it is called a lumpectomy. If a large tumor is removed, the breast may be small and scarred, yielding a poor cosmetic result. In order to fill in the defect from surgery, tissue from another part of the body can be moved into the breast region. The latissimus dorsi muscle can be used in this way, as shown in Image B. The curved lines seen on the mammogram in our patient were muscle fibers of latissimus dorsi. This surgical procedure is called a latissimus flap reconstruction.