www.BreastImplantAwareness.org/krista.htm
http://breastimplantawareness.blogspot.com

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/94475.php

The New York Times on Thursday examined whether breast implants are
the kind of "annuity medicine" that will require routine surgical
"tune-ups" and whether they expose patients to increased medical risk
and unreasonable out-of-pocket expenses. Doctors in the U.S. performed
about 329,000 breast augmentation surgeries in 2006, up from about
291,000 augmentations in 2005, a survey by the American Society of
Plastic Surgeons found. According to the Times, the "renaissance" of
breast enhancement surgery, the country's most popular cosmetic
operation, has been fueled in part by FDA's decision in 2006 to
approve a new line of silicone implants, lifting a 14-year moratorium.

There is "no established medical consensus" on how long breast
implants last because available clinical studies follow patients for
just a few years, the Times reports. Saline implants and silicone
implants can develop small tears in their shells, causing ruptures.
Implants also can cause scar tissue, which sometimes hardens and
squeezes the implant, causing pain and deforming the breasts. In the
case of defects, manufactures Allergan and Mentor offer warranty on
the implants. Allergan provides a lifetime implant replacement
warranty and up to $1,200 for fees for the first 10 years. One-third
of patients in an Allergan study had a second operation within four
years.

"The short answer is, we don't know specifically how long implants
last," Stephen Li -- the president of a medical device testing
company, who served on three of FDA's panels that reviewed implant
safety and voted to approve silicone implants -- said. He said
manufacturers' data indicate the implants should last at least 10
years. Carol Ciancutti-Leyva, the director of a 2007 anti-implant
documentary called "Absolutely Safe," said that "implants may last
less than 10 years or more than 10 years but when you start having
problems with them, your health insurance is unlikely to cover the MRI
tests or the reoperations."

In addition, "explantation" surgery, which involves complete removal
of implants and scar tissue, can be complicated, particularly for
older silicone implants, the Times reports. "If the envelope has
broken down and the silicone has leaked out, you are trying to get out
all of that goo," Susan Kolb, a plastic surgeon in Atlanta who
performs three to five explantation surgeries weekly, said. Scar
tissue can adhere to muscles and to the fibrous tissue covering the
ribs, and some doctors mistakenly remove too much muscle or breast
tissue during the surgery, which can cause chest deformities, she said
(Singer, New York Times, 1/17).

Reprinted with kind permission from
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