Swelling of the breast following augmentation mammaplasty and minimally invasive cardiac surgery.

Complications following breast augmentation procedures occur in the acute setting, usually in the form of hematoma, seroma, wound breakdown or infection. Late complications of augmentation mammaplasty usually manifest as either a failure of the prosthesis (eg, leak, rupture) or capsular contracture. We present an interesting case of a hematoma following augmentation mammaplasty that occurred 7 years postoperatively. What makes this case particularly intriguing is that in the time period between the augmentation mammaplasty and the late hematoma, the patient underwent minimally invasive cardiac surgery to treat a malfunctioning mitral valve. Ultimately, the breast implant was salvaged and the patient obtained a very satisfactory result. This case is important to report because as more women choose to have breast augmentation procedures and as more people have minimally invasive cardiac surgery, this clinical scenario will be encountered with greater frequency. We also make several suggestions that we feel may help avoid the problems seen with this patient in the future.