Dosimetry around metallic ports in tissue expanders in patients receiving postmastectomy radiation therapy: an ex vivo evaluation

Journal Article · Wed Mar 31 04:00:00 EST 2004 · Medical Dosimetry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2003.10.005· OSTI ID:20655474

Moni, Janaki; Graves-Ditman, Maria; Cederna, Paul; Griffith, Kent; Krueger, Editha A; Fraass, Benedick A; Pierce, Lori J

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.

• OSTI ID: 20655474
• Journal Information: Medical Dosimetry, Journal Name: Medical Dosimetry Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 29; ISSN 0958-3947; ISSN MEDOEJ
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY
FILMS
MAMMARY GLANDS
PATIENTS
PHANTOMS
RADIATION DOSE DISTRIBUTIONS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION SOURCE IMPLANTS
RADIOTHERAPY
THERMOLUMINESCENT DOSIMETRY