Breast Implants Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Breast Implants, including details on silicone implant, breast augmentation, surgery, risks.

Silicone thorax due to a ruptured breast implant.

Levine RL, Allen TC, Cartwright J, Cagle PT

Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Texas School of Medicine, Houston, USA. Robert.Levine@uth.tmc.edu

A woman with a history of bilateral mastectomy and silicone implants for fibrocystic disease and a history of atrial septal defect repair presented with pleural nodules on a chest radiograph. A thorascopic biopsy performed for possible mesothelioma demonstrated chronic inflammation and focal pleural fibrosis due to a foreign-body reaction secondary to silicone. This was confirmed using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive radiograph elemental analysis. As the population ages, the increasing frequency of ruptured silicone implants and the need for heart surgery may result in a corresponding increase in the risk for fibrothorax secondary to inadvertent silicone introduction during surgery.

Published 12 May 2005 in Chest, 127(5): 1854-7.
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