New Type of Breast Implant - The Ideal Breast Implant

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The 2 main types of breast implants available for decades have been the saline filled an silicone gel filled breast implants. Each has its pros and cons. Silicone gel implants have a more natural feel and look. Unlike silicone gel, implants containing only saline do not blend well with surrounding tissues at the edges of the implants. This is due to the chemical properties of salt water which is chemically charged as positive and negative charges that attract each other as opposed to silicone gel which does not carry a charge. Thus saline is more cohesive than silicone. What this means in clinical terms is that saline implant margins are more visible than silicone gel implant margins, especially when the soft tissue (breast gland and fat) between the outside world and the implant is thinner. Thus, in those patients with smaller breasts (less glandular tissue and/or fat) it is preferable to place saline implants under the chest muscle.

Woman's Body Swallows Breast Implant

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A report from Johns Hopkins University in the December 2011 New England Journal of Medicine describes the swallowing of a breast implant into a woman's chest cavity. The patient had reconstruction of both breasts after mastectomy for breast cancer. She subsequently had minimally invasive heart surgery via the right mastectomy scar. Some time later while partaking in a Pilates class the right implant was swallowed by her body during a stretching exercise. The intact implant squeezed through a small hole between her ribs left from the heart surgery and ended up on top of her right diaphragm. It must have been scary to look down and see the implant disappear into her chest.

The implant was retrieved, the hole in the chest was closed with a mesh patch and the implant was put back in its original position. Now I assume she is back doing Pilates. This is one thing you don't see everyday.

Aaron Stone MD - Plastic Surgeon Los Angeles
Aaron Stone MD - twitter

Breast Implants and Lymphoma Cancer

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Patients with either saline- or silicone gel–filled breast implants may have a very small but significant risk for a rare cancer called anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL), a cancer of the immune system, adjacent to the implant. This is currently under investigation and its existence should be considered if there is a build up or collection around the implant (seroma) years after the original surgery. Because the risk is very small the current policy is one of data collection only and no changes have been recommended for the use of breast implants or the frequency of follow up after breast implant surgery. The FDA continues to state that breast implants are "safe and effective when used as labeled."

Breast Implants Augmentation Reconstruction and a Natural Look

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Most of us know when we see a good result from breast surgery whether it be implants for breast augmentation or reconstruction after breast cancer surgery (mastectomy) or the results of a breast reduction surgery. As I described in my blog on facial proportions analysis a similar proportions assessment is used in planning any breast surgery and in assessing the end result.

That is to say for the average woman between 5 and 6 feet tall the desired proportions are that the nipples form an equilateral triangle with the upper notch of the breast bone and each side of the triangle is about 20cm in length. Additionally the distance between each nipple and the fold under the breast should be about 7cm with a gentle curve outline along the bottom of each breast. Together with equal sized nipple areola complexes this creates the left right symmetry and aesthetic look we strive for. The question then arises as to how one achieves this goal or result after breast surgery. This blog will only deal with breast implants rather than breast reductions and mostly with options available to correct for deviations from this pattern after breast implant placement i.e. redo breast implant surgery when the nipple is in the correct position.