Table 1.
Patient demographics (n = 862 patients)
| Immediate DIEP n (%) |
Delayed DIEP n (%) |
p value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of patients | 326 | 536 | |
| Total number of DIEP flaps | 347 | 572 | |
| Age in years; mean ± SD | 52.79 ± 8.28 | 50.92 ± 8.48 | < 0.001 |
| BMI; mean ± SD | 26.11 ± 3.72 | 26.95 ± 3.71 | < 0.001 |
| History of lumpectomya | 106 (30.5) | 88 (15.4) | < 0.001 |
| History of tissue expanders/implantsa | 4 (1.2) | 166 (29.0) | < 0.001 |
| Type of reconstruction | |||
| Unilateral | 244 (74.8) | 411 (76.7) | < 0.001 |
| Bilateral | 76 (23.3) | 108 (20.1) | |
| Stacked | 6 (1.9) | 17 (3.2) | |
| Side | |||
| Left | 179 (51.6) | 293 (51.2) | 0.845 |
| Right | 168 (48.4) | 278 (48.6) | |
| Oncological treatment | |||
| History of radiation therapya | 112 (32.3) | 269 (47.0) | < 0.001 |
| Chemotherapy | 160 (49.1) | 369 (68.8) | < 0.001 |
| Endocrine therapy | 136 (41.7) | 294 (54.9) | < 0.001 |
| Immunotherapy | 43 (13.2) | 79 (14.7) | 0.065 |
| Hospital setting | |||
| University hospital | 195 (59.8) | 285 (53.2) | < 0.001 |
| Community hospital | 131 (40.2) | 251 (46.8) | |
| Follow-up in months; median (IQR)b | 46 (45) | 56 (46) | < 0.001 |
| Follow-up in months; median (IQR) c | 46 (45) | 86 (54.75) | < 0.001 |
DIEP deep inferior epigastric artery perforator; SD standard deviation; BMI body mass index; IQR interquartile range
aTotal number of flaps as unit of analysis (immediate group: n = 347; delayed group: n = 572)
bTime from breast reconstruction until last date of follow up or recurrence or death from another cause
cTime from mastectomy until last date of follow up or recurrence or death from another cause