Chest wall after mastectomy. Part II. CT appearance of tumor recurrence.

The postoperative computed tomography (CT) scans of 19 patients with breast cancer and suspected local or regional recurrence were reviewed. Recurrence was documented by percutaneous biopsy in 15 and by overwhelming clinical evidence in two. CT correctly identified the sites of recurrence in all 15 biopsy-proved cases. In two patients, suspected areas on CT scans proved to be residual pectoralis muscles. In most cases, the CT findings of recurrence to the skin, subcutaneous fat, pectoralis muscle, axilla, and brachial plexus can be differentiated from the postoperative and postirradiation anatomy.