Microsurgeons to Present on DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction
ALBANY, N.Y., September 20, 2007 - Jerome Chao, M.D., and Dimitri Koumanis, M.D., assistant professors of surgery at Albany Medical Center, will present "DIEP Flap Microsurgery: The Gold Standard of Breast Reconstruction Following Mastectomy", at 6pm Monday, Oct. 1 at Gilda's Club of the Capital Region, One Penny Lane, Latham.
The DIEP Flap - or deep inferior epigastric perforator flap?is a microsurgical technique that uses the patient's own abdominal skin and tissue to create a new breast. Unlike the conventional transverse rectus abdominus muscle (TRAM) flap, the DIEP flap leaves the patient's abdominal muscle intact, which the surgeons say presents numerous benefits to patients including a decreased risk of complications such as hernias or abdominal weakness, or the likelihood of additional follow-up surgeries. The procedure is also preferred over saline implants, which may be rejected by the patient's body or need to be replaced in the future.
Chao and Koumanis performed the region's first DIEP Flap surgery earlier this summer. They will discuss this latest option in breast reconstruction to hit the Capital Region, as well as other options for breast cancer patients considering reconstruction.
To register, call Gilda's Club at (518) 782-9833.
*Questions & Comments:
Sue Ford
