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Modified subcutaneous mastectomy was described by one of us in 1968; its approach, the dissection of the gland, plastic reconstruction of shape and volume are completely different from the subcutaneous mastectomy performed by plastic surgeons. 3 different time periods were studied to explain clearly evolution in the technic and indications. During many years retrospective studies made it possible to build a procedure according to the new diagnostic means for infraclinical breast cancer and to the constant improving prosthetic material. Therefore our indications for modified subcutaneous mastectomy are as following: suspicious mastopathies are the best indications with a performing choice of the radiologic images which require histologic control some evolutive or evoluated mastopathies some small infiltrating tumors developing in a highly dystrophic glandular surrounding. The numerous in situ cancers accompanying them argue for this choice. some big phyllod tumors or phyllod's recurrences.

In the case of breast cancer with no clinical signs, radiological signs are the decisive factors to indicate surgery, histological studies or treatment. Foci of microcalcifications currently are the feature to identify as a rule. However, they reveal canalicular carcinoma in only 1 case out of 3. We propose a radiological technique allowing the selection of the microcalcifications to be operated by means of the digitization of a mammographic film and of a software-controlled morphometric analysis. 10,000 microcalcifications have been studied in this way. The most reliable of the 12 parameters that were distinguished is compacity. 100 files were studied with conventional mammography and a morphometric and histological analysis. Any microcalcification less compact than 0.35 is highly suspicious, since this parameter is the only one having a significant difference, with a confidence interval of 95%. The patients are now selected in this way. Differences in the age of the lesions, multiple foci and sometimes lesions with multiple centers lead us to automatically propose the exeresis of the gland, followed by immediate reconstruction of its shape and volume. According to a retrospective study we carried out on 111 subclinical intracanalicular carcinomas after a 5 to 20-year time interval, recurrence is observe in only 4.5% of all cases.