Ian Paterson inquest: Mum's cancer returned after 'cleavage-sparing' operation by disgraced surgeon

A mother who was given a "cleavage-sparing" mastectomy by disgraced surgeon Ian Paterson then had her breast cancer return, an inquest into her death has heard.

Chloe Nikitas, an environmental consultant from Tamworth, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002 and was treated by the West Midlands "butcher" surgeon.

He told her he could perform a mastectomy which would leave some skin behind to ensure her cleavage would look normal.

She then discovered a lump in the same breast in 2005, which was the same type of cancer she had three years earlier.

That cancer diagnosis was terminal - and she died at the age of 43 at the Priory Hospital in April 2008.

The inquest into the death of Ms Nikitas is the first of 62 into the deaths of Paterson's former patients scheduled to be heard at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner's Court over the next eight months.

Ms Nikitas's partner of 18 years Klaus Strohle told an inquest in Birmingham on Tuesday 22 October she would have never agreed to the "cleavage-sparing" procedure if she had known it would have left breast tissue behind and risked her cancer returning.

Paterson is currently serving a 20-year prison term after being convicted of multiple counts of wounding in 2017.

Mr Strohle told the court no other surgical options were offered to his partner, and they assumed the mastectomy on her left breast was the "best course of action" as it was touted as a "pioneering" surgery.

He told the inquest: "How could it be that she had cancer again in the reconstructed breast?

"Chloe had had a mastectomy, the whole point of that is to remove tissue so it doesn't come back, what was the point in her going through it?

"We were told we were just exceptionally unlucky, that it was a one in a million chance, that it was sheer bad luck.

"We were under no illusion that this was a death sentence. It was metastatic, and it was terminal."

When Ms Nikitas was first diagnosed with breast cancer, Mr Strohle said they saw Paterson in June of that year, and discussed the mastectomy.

He said: "Mr Paterson mentioned a cleavage-sparing mastectomy and we saw it as a positive.

"He explained what it was, he said it would leave skin behind so it would look normal and would be barely noticeable.

"He gave no warnings about the surgery, we weren't made aware that there would be an increased risk of reoccurrence, absolutely not.

"If we were, I can assure you we wouldn't have chosen that option. We assumed it was a new methodology for treating breast cancer. We were given no other options for surgery."

After her surgery and reconstruction in 2002, Ms Nikitas was referred to a consultant oncologist, Dr Tal Latief, to arrange chemotherapy.

Giving evidence via video-link at the inquest, Dr Latief, now retired, said he had no idea Paterson had been performing partial mastectomies as they were simply labelled as "mastectomies" on medical notes and correspondence and said he had never heard of a cleavage-sparing mastectomy.

He said he believed that Paterson was a "good surgeon" and was "shocked" when he found out that he was being investigated."

Paterson has refused to attend the first of more than 60 inquests touching on the deaths of his former patients because he believes the coroner’s investigation is "biased", the court has been told.

The inquest continues.

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