SILICONE GEL BREAST IMPLANTS

Silicone Availability

Patients want to know if silicone gel-filled breast implants are available, and the answer is that yes, they are available.

There are slight differences in the admission criteria for Mentor and Inamed, and final determination for admissibility can only be determined at consultation. They are generally available to patients for whom saline is unsuitable that also have had a problem with previous breast implant surgery, whether it was silicone gel filled or saline. They are available for patients having first time breast surgery if the patient has a congenital deformity, such as breastbone or rib abnormalities, or misshapen or asymmetric breasts. It is also commonly used for patients that are getting a breast lift.

A complete medical history is done to be sure that there are no medical contraindications to the surgery.

Between the two companies, there is a wide range of silicone gel filled breast implants available. Dr. Teitelbaum is very knowledgeable about both the subtle and the significant differences between these, and he will discuss the various options with you. The available silicone breast implants vary in the size, the shape (round or teardrop), the shell (thicker or thinner, smooth or textured), the gel (more liquidy or more thick), projection (more round or more flattened), and the fill (less filled and softer, more filled and firmer.)

Silicone Safety

Silicone gel filled breast implants have been used worldwide since the early 1960s. At the time they were first used, the FDA only regulated drugs. When they were put in charge of medical devices, those with a good track record of safety were "grandfathered" in, and this is what happened with silicone breast implants.

In the late 1980's and early 1990's, there were a number of lawsuits against implant manufacturers with large rewards for the plaintiff. Caving to pressure from the public and the media, FDA commissioner David Kessler imposed a moratorium on silicone gel filled breast implants in 1992. (Since that time, implants have been available, but only in limited numbers as described in the study above.)

The ban was not due to any evidence that showed they were harmful. Rather the ban was imposed because of an inadequate amount of data demonstrating their safety. But now, 10 years later, those studies have been done, and they have unanimously shown that silicone gel filled breast implants do not cause any systemic illnesses.

The safety of silicone is not a matter of opinion. There is no absolute answer, for example, on what the second amendment means with regards to the right to possess certain types of weapons. Educated Americans may disagree on that matter. But there is an absolute answer as to whether or not silicone gel filled implants cause disease. It is not a matter of opinion. And the answer to that has been an unequivocal no.

The definitive work on the matter is the book Science on Trial, by Marcia Angell, M.D., executive editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. Click here to read a synopsis of the book. Anyone who still has qualms about the safety of silicone breast implants should order the book. It is a quick and interesting read. You can purchase the book at Amazon.

Most convincing about the safety of breast implants has been the conclusions of two large scientific bodies. In 2000, the Institute of Medicine issued a comprehensive report on the safety of silicone breast implants that was commissioned by Congress. This is their conclusion:

"A review of 17 epidemiological reports of connective tissue disease in women with breast implants was remarkable for the consistency in finding no elevated relative risk or odds ratio for an association of implants with disease. Studies of breast implants and undifferentiated connective tissue disease or atypical signs and symptoms were much fewer in number. Several high-quality studies of classical connective tissue disease in women with implants were available, but this was not the case with atypical signs and symptoms or unusual presentations. Nevertheless, many of the studies focusing on classical disease had also collected data on rheumatic and related signs and symptoms, and in general, no association with implants was found."

"A novel syndrome or disease associated with silicone breast implants has been proposed. Evidence for this proposed disease rests on case reports and is insufficient or flawed. The disease definition includes, as a precondition, the presence of silicone breast implants, so it cannot be studied as an independent health problem. The committee finds that the diagnosis of this condition could depend on the presence of a number of symptoms that are nonspecific and common in the general population. Thus, there does not appear to be even suggestive evidence for the existence of a novel syndrome in women with breast implants. In fact, epidemiological evidence suggests that there is no novel syndrome."

Those that wish to read the full report can do so at http://bob.nap.edu/books/0309065321/html/.

Another conclusive study on the safety of breast implants was that of an independent National Science Panel that reviewed all of the medical literature for a federal judge overseeing a number of breast implant cases. Click here to see their conclusion.

Contact us online or at 310.315.1121   888.315.1121 for more information about Silicone Gel Breast Implants.