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Background: In 2018, the Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgeons first Women in Plastic Surgery was established, reflecting the national trend to address the gender gap between men and women in surgery. Conferences, such as the annual NESPS, are important opportunities to increase visibility of female role models and resources to address deterrents to surgical careers. We thus sought to examine the participation and visibility of women in the NESPS over the last decade., Methods: Abstracts and programs from the NESPS regional conferences between 2013 and 2019 were accessed via the publicly available past meetings archives, and registration lists were provided by the NESPS. Registrants, panelists, speakers, moderators, and first author and senior author listed for each poster presentation, podium presentation was listed, sex was determined (male or female), and sex were aggregated by category of participation. Significance was set at a P value of less than 0.05., Results: Registration of women for the NESPS annual conferences was constant for 5 years (2013-2017), followed by an increase in female registrants from 27.1% in 2017 to 42.3% in 2019. Female representation among poster and podium presentations also increased from 2017 to 2019 (7.7%-23.3% poster presentations and 11.1%-23.4% podium presentations). Invited positions (speakers, panelists, and moderators) had a peak of 32.2% in 2017, but otherwise, there is no clear evidence of improved representation of women., Conclusions: We found an increase in the proportion of female registrants at the annual NESPS conferences from 2013 to 2019. However, visibility of female participants fluctuated over the same period; addressing this represents one opportunity for closing the gender gap at the NESPS. As the percentage of female trainees continues to rise, we look to female faculty to continue to participate in educational events, such as the NESPS meeting, and to be present as role models for the growing new generation of female plastic surgeons., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest and sources of funding: K.B. is a consultant for Margin Probe. The other authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Breast MRI has paved the way for new thinking regarding the workup of women recently diagnosed with breast cancer and the screening of high-risk women. The routine use of MRI preoperatively is advocated, particularly in young patients and women with dense breasts where mammography is significantly less sensitive for the detection of malignancy. Additionally, MRI is particularly helpful in those women who have core biopsy results showing extensive intraductal component (>25%) orinvasive lobular carcinoma, and in those women with increased risk of positive margins. However, as with any imaging modality, breast magnetic resonance has limitations. Because breast magnetic resonance has lower specificity than some modalities, clinicians must be selective in identifying those women most likely to benefit from this additional imaging. Many recent publications show that MRI does not unduly raise the false-positive biopsy rate while providing specificity similar to that of mammography and higher than that of ultrasound. Positive margin rates for breast conservation therapy range from 30% to 50% and the achievement of negative margins is directly related to low recurrence rates. Magnetic resonance provides improved preoperative staging, which in turn may reduce recurrence rates and improve patient outcome. Breast MRI should be used in concert with other modalities, such as mammography and ultrasound, for the highest sensitivity for detecting malignancy. Long-term studies are needed to validate the impact of screening and diagnostic breast MRI on patient outcomes.