Abstract
Breast is an external organ with abundant blood supply which renders it vulnerable to many inflammatory or neoplastic conditions, yet it remains immune to ischemia. Various chest wall surgical procedures may directly or indirectly affect the breast or its overlying skin. Cardiac surgery with its designed incisions is closely related to the breast terrain. Breast necrosis is very rare and only few cases were reported in the literature. We report two cases of breast necrosis in diabetic patients following cardiac bypass surgery. This emerging quandary is an alert to cardiothoracic surgeons to generate special preparation for a subset of patients prior to cardiac surgical procedures in order to minimize the occurrence of ischemia.
Highlights
The breast is a vascular organ, gaining its abundant blood supply from the adjacent axillary artery, internal thoracic artery and inter-costal vessels
Fat necrosis and chest wall necrosis are reported entities related to breast trauma, severe infections or chest wall irradiation [1]
Total breast necrosis is of remote occurrence
Summary
The breast is a vascular organ, gaining its abundant blood supply from the adjacent axillary artery, internal thoracic artery and inter-costal vessels. Fat necrosis and chest wall necrosis are reported entities related to breast trauma, severe infections or chest wall irradiation [1]. Total breast necrosis is of remote occurrence. With the current advances in surgical practice, modern operating rooms and specialized anesthesia, coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) has gained momentum over recent years successfully treating the overwhelming increased incidence of coronary heart disease. Harvesting the internal thoracic artery as a graft conduit for myocardial revascularization is a common practice in cardiac surgery [2]. Reported common complications related to this type of surgery are bleeding, heart arrhythmias, and less commonly chest wound infections, memory loss, kidney failure, stroke and heart attacks [3]. Total breast necrosis following CABG surgery is a rare event and has only sporadically been reported in the literature
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