News

Breast implants deemed safe--again

Zosia Kmietowicz, London

Silicone gel breast implants have been cleared of causing ill health by a government review, the third review in six years to proclaim the devices safe.

But the Independent Review Group, which is responsible for the latest report, recommends that anyone seeking breast enlargement should receive full information about the procedure and be given an opportunity to discuss a checklist of issues with the surgeon before the operation.

Women with silicone gel breast implants are at no greater risk of connective tissue disease or an abnormal inflammatory response than those without, according to the report. However, chronic low grade infection may be responsible for some of the more non-specific symptoms such as fatigue and muscle weakness that patients have complained of. This type of infection can occur with any type of implant--silicone itself is not poisonous, concludes the panel.

Professor Alan Silman, Arthritis Research Campaign professor of rheumatic disease epidemiology at the University of Manchester Medical School and member of the review group said that a chronic low grade infection with silicone implants is not impossible. "This type of infection can occur when you put any type of foreign body into somebody," he said.

Although the report states that no further studies into the issue of connective disease can be justified, it recommends that more research into non-specific symptoms, particularly the incidence of rupture and the possible cause of symptoms, is performed and that women with implants are followed up.

On the issue of preoperative information, the report is scathing. It says that the quality and type of information given to the 8000 women who seek breast implants each year varies widely in the private sector, and measures should be introduced to ensure a uniformly high pretreatment service. Customers should have access to information on the potential risks and side effects of ruptured implants, scars, and wrinkles and be warned that they may have to pay for follow up procedures such as screening for rupture and reimplantation if necessary.