Abstract
After partial mastectomy, adhesion and fixation occur between the excised areas and the surrounding structures, preventing good exposure of some parts of the remnant breast tissue at mammography. We examined mammograms taken in 2010 of 24 post-partial mastectomy patients who showed adhesion in the C-area. Seven of these patients had undergone additional axillary lymph node dissection. We found that post-partial mastectomy adhesion and fixation to the surrounding tissues were variable in individual patients, and that axillary dissection had extended the adhesion further. For obtaining good mammograms in these patients, it was important firstly to clarify the sites and grade of adhesion and fixation caused by the previous surgery, and secondly to modify the patient's positioning at the time of mammography by fully extending the movable tissues,bringing them close to the fixed site, and applying pressure on them. In this way, radiological technicians must modify the positioning of post-partial mastectomy patients after careful reference to the surgical procedure performed and the sites of adhesion and fixation.
