Q. What might prevent a successful result with breast reconstruction?

A. Well… lots of things, actually. To begin with, you may not even be a candidate for body tissue reconstruction; since your blood vessels play such an important role in the outcome, generally you’re not eligible if you have diabetes, connective tissue or vascular disease, or if you’re a smoker.

The new breast might not exactly match the old one; you may want to have the surgeon go back in and do some tweaks, to one...