title: Dosimetry around metallic ports in tissue expanders in patients receiving postmastectomy radiation therapy: an ex vivo evaluation.
abstract: Postmastectomy breast reconstruction can be accomplished utilizing tissue expanders and implants. However, in patients who require postoperative radiotherapy, the complication rate with tissue expander/implant reconstruction can exceed 50%. One potential cause of this high complication rate may be the metallic port in the tissue expander producing altered dosimetry in the region of the metallic device. The purpose of this study was to quantify the radiation dose distribution in the vicinity of the metallic port and determine its potential contribution to this extremely high complication rate. The absolute dosimetric effect of the tissue expander's metallic port was quantified using film and thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) studies with a single beam incident on a metallic port extracted from an expander. TLD measurements were performed at 11 reproducible positions on an intact expander irradiated with tangential fields. A computed tomography (CT)-based treatment plan without inhomogeneity corrections was used to derive expected doses for all TLD positions. Multiple irradiation experiments were performed for all TLD data. Confidence intervals for the dose at TLD sites with the metallic port in place were compared to the expected dose at the site without the metallic port. Film studies did not reveal a significant component of scatter around the metallic port. TLD studies of the extracted metallic port revealed highest doses within the casing of the metallic port and no consistent increased dose at the surface of the expander. No excess dose due to the metallic port in the expander was noted with the phantom TLD data. Based upon these results, it does not appear that the metallic port in tissue expanders significantly contributes to the high complication rate experienced in patients undergoing tissue expander breast reconstruction and receiving radiation therapy. Strategies designed to reduce the breast reconstruction complication rate in this clinical setting will need to focus on factors other than adjusting the dosimetry around the tissue expander metallic port.
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. jmoni@umich.edu
authors.forename: Janaki
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moni
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Graves-Ditman
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cederna
authors.forename: Kent
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.forename: Editha A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Krueger
authors.forename: Benedick A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Fraass
authors.forename: Lori J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Pierce
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005373:Film Dosimetry; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy; D008670:Metals; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D013819:Thermoluminescent Dosimetry; D015625:Tissue Expansion Devices
chemical_list: D008670:Metals