HOW WE PERFORM BREAST SCREENING
At our Clinic, we examine all women based on their particular needs and perform all necessary tests and exams that are best suited to each patient.
First, a breast surgeon obtains a detailed personal and family medical history. This helps us get to know you better and properly classify you in the correct breast cancer risk group. (Your medical file is kept in our records with your consent and accompanies you in any future exam and/or test that you may undergo).
Next, we perform a thorough physical exam of the breasts and armpits through palpation and gross ultrasound, write down the most suspicious areas, if any, and order the appropriate tests, if needed, individually for each case (Tailor-made Medicine).
On the same day, following consultation with a breast radiologist, a digital mammogram, ultrasound, tomosynthesis, or elastography may be performed. Please note that the necessity of any exam or test varies among patients, depending on their age, findings, and risk factors.
If there is a suspicious finding, we can accurately and safely perform same-day ultrasound-guided procedures, including:
- Percutaneous cutting needle biopsy for histology (core biopsy) if it is a solid finding or
- fine-needle aspiration and cytological examination (FNA) if it is a cyst.
At a separate appointment at our Hospital's Breast Center, a breast MRI (magnetic mammography) may also be performed. In case of suspicious palpable findings (e.g. microcalcifications), we also perform a mammogram-guided stereotactic biopsy or hook-wire localization.
SURGICAL PROCEDURES
Our top-notch operating room accommodates the entire range of breast surgeries, in the same manner they are performed in the largest hospitals worldwide. Whether it's a benign or a malignant disease to be treated, our medical team always seeks the best possible aesthetic result combined with the minimum length of stay.
Our surgical team consists of highly trained physicians, all of whom hold extensive experience from working abroad, while they have a long presence in the field of Breast Surgery and Plastic Surgery in Greece.
Our anesthesiologist has gained extensive experience from working in highly acclaimed hospitals both in Greece and the USA. Thus, our patients feel perfectly safe in her arms.
We take all preventive safety measures to avoid adverse events from occurring during surgery:
We use the Flowtron DVT VTE prevention garment, a special medical device that applies regulated pressure on the calves to prevent thrombosis.
We apply silicone patches on areas with bony prominence to prevent neuralgia or bedsores.
We use a safety belt to fasten patients under anesthesia to prevent falls.
Patients are discharged on the same day (One-Day Clinic) and in excellent condition, after undergoing any of the following operations:
- Removal of a benign tumorlet (nevus, papilloma, fibroadenoma, atypical hyperplasia, lipoma, phyllodes tumor, hidradenitis, etc.);
- endoscopic removal of a benign breast tumor through an incision in the armpit;
- catheterization and mammary duct excision to treat intraductal papilloma with nipple discharge;
- catheterization and breast fistula surgical treatment;
- drainage of an antibiotics-resistant abscess in suppurative mastitis;
- removal of non-palpable lesion (e.g. microcalcifications), following hook-wire localization;
- tumor resection for in situ or invasive mass via any type of oncoplastic surgery, depending on the location of the tumor in the breast, to deliver the best aesthetic result;
- sentinel lymph node biopsy using TC99 isotope, in partnership with the Department of Nuclear Medicine (the only reliable method);
- total mastectomy;
- nipple reconstruction using flap, tattoo, or both approaches combined;
- surgical correction of inverted nipples;
- breast augmentation surgery with silicone implants;
- breast lift (mastopexy);
- breast asymmetry correction surgery (breast symmetrization);
- gynecomastia surgery (male breast reduction);
- correction of scars and bad surgical outcomes, using an injection of adipose tissue harvested from the abdomen (lipomodeling-lipofilling).
Surgical procedures requiring overnight stay:
- Radical axillary lymph node dissection;
- prophylactic total or subcutaneous mastectomy with nipple-sparing or areola-sparing;
- modified radical mastectomy;
- breast reduction surgery.
Surgical procedures that may require a 2-day stay:
- Breast reconstruction at the same time with mastectomy or at a later time, using tissue expanders or silicone implants as well as using flaps harvested from the patient’s own body, mainly from the latissimus dorsi flap (LD flap), the transverse rectus abdominis (TRAM), or using a lipocutaneous flap from the deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP);
- palliative mastectomy in inoperable, ulcerating, or metastatic tumors, which, despite treatment, continue to bleed, and closure using a flap or free skin graft.
MULTIDISCIPLINARY MANAGEMENT - TUMOR BOARD
- We participate in our hospital's tumor board, where the case of each breast cancer patient is thoroughly reviewed and discussed by physicians in many specialties.
- We work with highly specialized medical oncologists for the administration of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy.
- We work with a radiation oncologist for patients who need radiotherapy.
- We work with a clinical psychologist specializing in helping patients deal with their malignant diseases.
- We work with a clinical geneticist and a molecular biologist on heredity and genetic testing for breast cancer.
Staff
Chief:
Fissas Ioannis, Breast Surgeon
Assistant:
Kolia Katerina, Breast Surgeon
Associates:
Antonopoulos Dimitris, Plastic Surgeon
Tzoufi Eleonora, Anesthesiologist
Contact Number: +30 210-6502601
