Photos: Angelina Jolie reveals she had a double mastectomy
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie announced on Tuesday that she had a preventive mastectomy after learning she had a gene that significantly raised her risk of breast cancer. In double mastectomies, surgeons typically remove as much breast tissue as possible. In Jolie's case, because she was having a reconstruction done shortly afterward, the doctors preserved the skin covering her breasts, inserting "fillers" where the breast tissue would have been, to keep the skin elastic. According to Jolie, she had implants put in nine weeks later.
Angelina Jolie
Actress Angelina Jolie arrives before the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
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2006 World's Most Beautiful Woman winner: Angelina Jolie
Jolie at a special screening of the film "Peace One Day" at the Ziegfeld Theater September 20, 2005 in New York City. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)
Angelina Jolie
Actress Angelina Jolie speaks ahead of a screening of her new film 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' at the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London, on Tuesday May 29, 2012. Jolie spoke on the British Foreign Secretary's initiative on Preventing Sexual Violence In Conflict, ahead of the screening. (AP Photo / Dan Kitwood, Pool)
Angelina Jolie
Actor Brad Pitt, right, and actress Angelina Jolie arrive before the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 26.
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie presents an award during the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday in Hollywood.
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie, writer and director of the film "In the Land of Blood and Honey" poses at the premiere in Los Angeles, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
Angelina Jolie, Maddox, Zahara Marley, Pax Thien, Shiloh Nouvel
U.S. actress Angelina Jolie, second from right, and her children from left, 8-year-old Maddox, Zahara Marley, 6, in a yellow shirt hidden behind Maddox, Pax Thien, 6, and Shiloh Nouvel, 4, arrive at Narita International Airport in Narita near Tokyo Monday, July 26, 2010 for the Japan premiere of her spy action-thriller film "Salt." (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Angelina Jolie
U.S. actress Angelina Jolie listens to a question during a press conference to promote her new spy action-thriller "Salt" in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Angelina Jolie
American actress Angelina Jolie poses for photographers during a media event to promote her new movie Salt, in Cancun, Mexico, Wednesday June 30, 2010. In the movie, Jolie plays the role of Evelyn Salt, a CIA officer accused of being a Russian spy. (AP Photo/Israel Leal)
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie arrives at the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie arrives at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt
U.S. director and actress Angelina Jolie, left, arrives with her partner, U.S. actor Brad Pitt for the screening of the film In the Land of Blood and Honey at the 62 edition of International Film Festival Berlinale, in Berlin Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)
Angelina Jolie
Actress Angelina Jolie arrives before the 84th Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)