[Retromuscular implantation of mammary prosthesis for reconstruction of the breast: report on 56 cases (author's transl)].

Though retromuscular implantation of mammary prosthesis for breast reconstruction presents certain advantages, a retrospective study of the results of 56 such prostheses implanted in 38 patients demonstrated certain complications related to this procedure. These included: ectopy, secondary migration, poor aesthetic appearance during muscle contractions, formation of a hard shell (33 p. cent of cases), and residual mammary asymmetry. However, the advantages related to the retromuscular site of implantation are sufficiently marked for this technique, described in detail, to be employed in certain chosen indications: sequelae to subcutaneous fatty mammectomies ("benign" breast), mammary reconstruction after resection for cancer or radiodermatitis, and perhaps after the use of musculocutaneous flap from the large dorsal muscles ("malignant" breast), and to increase mammary size in cases of agenesis or total aplasia (Poland's syndrome, "unesthetic"" breast).