I use my blog to share some of the interesting stuff I see in medical journals and this is one of weirdest case reports I have ever seen. This is from PRS Global Open (from about a year ago) which is the International Open Access Journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. See the original article here.
This is a 65 year old lady with 31 year old silicone gel breast implants. She presented with massive swelling of her left breast. She first noted the three years previously following a car accident. Apparently she initially sought treatment but because of insurance issues did not receive definitive care. Her MRI scan showed rupture of her implant with extrusion of implant material outside the scar capsule (a so-called extracapsular rupture) and fluid and a mass. Since this looked so creepy and suspicious for cancer, a biopsy was done with came back consistent with organized hematoma which is a benign collection of old blood usually secondary to trauma.
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- “I think there is something wrong with my implant.”
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- MRI showing ruptured implants (B) and something creepy (A).
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- After implant removal.
She was taken to the OR and she was found to have ruptured breast implants (not unexpected given their age) and a large blob of old partially solidified blood on the left side. She had removal of the implants and blood blob and also had some skin reduction done on the left side. From this seasoned plastic surgeon point of view, she has an absolutely stellar result. She also had some silicone removed from her left upper arm. It no doubt migrated there either during or shortly after the car accident. It had not caused any problems but was a palpable mass. It hard to believe that this lady had to live with for 3 years because of her insurance company dragging their feet!
Anyway, it’s always something and I’m grateful to the plastic surgery department from Duke University for sharing this really weird and really interesting case with a very happy ending!
Thanks for reading and I would be so happy for you to follow me on Instagram @sowdermd and @breastimplantsanity. Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder
@lisalynnsowder
