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What is known about silicone breast implants is that fibrous capsule contracture occurs in about 70% of cases two to four years after implantation. The rate of complications - which include breast pain, contracture, rupture, infection, implant migration requiring surgery - approaches 50% at 10 years. In a Mayo Clinic study, there was a 30% failure rate at 7.8 years. Rheumatologists have described a veritable array of symptoms in more than 1,000 patients with silicone breast implants.
Autoantibodies to collagen and extracellular matrix proteins and abnormalities of cell-mediated immunity have been found in women with silicone implants and not in controls. There does not appear to be a serologic marker consistently associated with rheumatic disease in these patients. These findings suggest that silicone implants may cause immune dysfunction and rheumatic disease in some patients, but it is very difficult to prove.
Signs & Symptoms
The syndrome includes the symptoms of arthralgia, myalgia, sicca complex, paresthesia, balance disturbance, night sweats, rashes, memory difficulty and fatigue.
Complications
In more than 80% of over 1,000 females with breast implants who were referred to neurologists at Baylor College of Medicine, mild to severe short-term memory loss was discovered. Many of the individuals experienced a 70% recovery when the implants and any loose silicone surrounding them was removed. SPECT testing of 15 of the women found diminished blood flow to the temporal lobe. When the SPECT testing was done after the silicone was removed there was increased blood flow to the temporal lobes.
A full 70% of these thousand women had Sjogren's syndrome; 58% had Raynaud's phenomenon and 60% had dermatitis.
Plastic surgeon and president of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery said the patients in this study are not representative of all silicone breast implant patients and that this was a highly biased and selected group of women being fewer than a thousand out of the million U.S. women who have had breast implants. You are left to draw your own conclusions.
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Signs, symptoms & indicators of Silicone Breast Implant Problems:
Conditions that suggest Silicone Breast Implant Problems:
Risk factors for Silicone Breast Implant Problems:
KEY | | Weak or unproven link |  | | Strong or generally accepted link |  | | Very strongly or absolutely counter-indicative |
GLOSSARY
Arthralgia
Severe throbbing or stabbing pain along a nerve in one or more joints.
Collagen
The primary protein within white fibers of connective tissue and the organic substance found in tendons, ligaments, cartilage, skin, teeth and bone.
Contracture (Contractures)
An abnormal, often permanent shortening, as of muscle or scar tissue, that results in distortion or deformity, especially of a joint of the body.
Dermatitis
A general term used to refer to eruptions or rashes on the skin.
Immune System (Immune Response, Immunity)
A complex that protects the body from disease organisms and other foreign bodies. The system includes the humoral immune response and the cell-mediated response. The immune system also protects the body from invasion by making local barriers and inflammation. The process may involve acquired immunity (the ability to learn and remember a specific infectious agent), or innate immunity (the genetically programmed system of responses that attack, digest, remove, and initiate inflammation and tissue healing).
Myalgia
Diffuse muscle pain.
Paresthesia
A skin sensation, such as burning, prickling, itching, or tingling, with no apparent physical cause.
Protein (Proteins)
Compounds composed of hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen present in the body and in foods that form complex combinations of amino acids. Protein is essential for life and is used for growth and repair. Foods that supply the body with protein include animal products, grains, legumes, and vegetables. Proteins from animal sources contain the essential amino acids. Proteins are changed to amino acids in the body.
Raynaud's Phenomenon (Raynaud's, Raynauds Disease, Raynaud's Disease, Raynauds Phenomenon, Raynauds Syndrome, Raynaud's Syndrome)
Raynaud's disease or syndrome is a disorder of blood circulation, mainly in the fingers and toes. It is of unknown cause and characterized by changes of the skin that are aggravated by exposure to cold: first, becoming white with numbness and pain as a result of inadequate oxygenation of the blood, then red/purple with a burning sensation. The sudden constriction of blood vessels causes decreased blood flow to the extremities and can, in extreme cases, lead to gangrene. Also called "white finger", "wax finger" or "dead finger".
Short-Term Memory (Short Term Memory)
Also known as immediate memory or working memory, this is a phase of memory in which a limited amount of information may be held for several seconds to minutes. In general, up to 7 'chunks' of information are stored for about 20 seconds.
Syndrome
A medical condition characterized by a collection of related symptoms (what the patient feels) and signs (what a doctor can observe or measure).
Last updated: Aug 01, 2009
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