Approved by the Cancer.Net Editorial Board, 09/2014. A pleural effusion is a buildup of extra fluid in the pleural space, which is the space between the lungs and the chest wall. About half of people with cancer develop a pleural effusion. Cancer growing in the pleural space causes a malignant pleural effusion. More than 75% of people with a malignant pleural effusion have lymphoma or cancers of the breast, lung, or ovary. This condition is considered a sign of metastatic cancer, or cancer that has spread to other areas of the body.
Although the majority of patients do not experience these complications, you should discuss each. of them with your plastic surgeon to make sure you understand all possible consequences of placing a. tissue expander. Tissue Expander / Implants- Tissue expanders and implants, similar to other medical devices, can fail.
What they are doing is they are releasing the adjacent tissue, cutting it off of the site but leaving a blood supply attached. This isn't like free graft or anything. So, they pull them up and then they kind of pull it over or they transfer the tissue over to the other area. So, it's adjacent tissue. It's close to the defect or surrounding the defect and they just transfer it over so adjacent tissue transfer. The big thing to remember with the ATT is that you add both the primary and the secondary defect and that these are in square centimeter.