Breast implants may burst

Aesthetics and Health: Breast implants can burst. In France, prosecutorial investigations have been initiated against the bankrupt breast implant manufacturer Poly Implant Prosthesis (PIP) because it is likely that the implants will crack and rupture.

This was preceded by an accumulation of complaints from affected women who had broken implants. Since 2001, approximately 35,000 to 45,000 such implants have been used in France, but 90 percent of the company's production has been exported abroad.

In France, prosecutorial investigations have been initiated against the bankrupt breast implant manufacturer Poly Implant Prosthesis (PIP) because it is likely that the implants will crack and rupture. This was preceded by an accumulation of complaints from affected women who had broken implants. Since 2001, approximately 35,000 to 45,000 such implants have been used in France, but 90 percent of the company's production has been exported abroad.The French supervisory and safety authority for medical devices (Affsaps) has meanwhile taken the affected implant models out of the market. Reason for the cracks and the bursting of the implants should be a non-approved silicone gel. It can attack its surrounding envelope layer and make it porous. There was already a review at the company's manufacturing headquarters near Toulon, in southern France.

Public prosecutor's office is now being investigated against the now closed PIP for misleading, forgery, and endangering others' lives. Those responsible could expect to be sentenced to four years imprisonment. In France, almost 500,000 women are supposed to wear implants in their breasts. Almost a tenth could be from PIP. Affected women are advised to have the implants medically examined by a specialist using a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or ultrasound device.

When the sheath bursts on an implant, the breast shape changes. It can lead to deformations, asymmetries and local inflammations of different sizes. The silicone itself is considered harmless to the tissue. However, PIP has used different silicone than is otherwise available in the trade, which is why it is called for vigilance. If the implant has burst, the breast must be cut open and a new one inserted.
In Germany, almost 30,000 breast implants are to be used annually. In the process, the number of women undergoing surgery in younger and younger age groups is increasing.

For many women, the increasingly sophisticated technologies of material, surgical methods and follow-up are certainly a relief. In naturopathy it is pointed out that an approach of our organism could lead more and more to aesthetic and less to functional points of view, eventually permanently more to a problem than to a blessing. (Thorsten Fischer, Naturopath Osteopathy, 01.04.2010)