Breast Augmentation and Liposuction Blog - Dr. Bottger

When silicone breast implants were temporarily removed from the market for cosmetic breast augmentation in the 1990s, one of the more serious charges leveled against them was that they caused autoimmune disorders. Women complained of numerous nonspecific symptoms, a sickness that affected their entire body, whose cause could not be determined, but the women and some scientists linked the symptoms to their silicone breast implants. Lawsuits ensued, breast implants were pulled off the market, and Dow-Corning and other breast implant manufacturers gave a huge cash settlement to victims.

However, more than a decade after the ban went into effect, research failed to turn up any positive connections between silicone breast implants and autoimmune or other systemic disorders, so silicone breast implants were put back on the market for cosmetic breast augmentation.

Now, though, one study claims to have discovered evidence that silicone breast implants trigger systemic inflammation. The small study, published in the March 2011 issue of the Archives of Plastic Surgery, looked at the levels of C-reactive protein, which is connected to inflammation, in the blood of 24 breast implant patients, and 28 liposuction patients. The study found that women receiving breast implants saw a much, much larger increase in their blood serum levels of C-reactive protein. Although there was no accompanying complications or increases in antibodies that might be associated with an autoimmune response, the authors caution that long-term monitoring for immunogenicity of silicone breast implants is warranted.

Labels: breast augmentation, safety, silicone breast implant