Fw: MSNBC: Seeking better breast implants

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From: " ilena rose " <ilena2000@...>

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Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2004 6:59 PM

Subject: MSNBC: Seeking better breast implants

> (see photos on page)

>

> Seeking better breast implants

> Doctors experiment with 'gummy bear'

> fillers, titanium coatings

> Cohesive silicone gel implants, such as this one made by McGhan, a

division

> of Inamed, are designed to avoid leaks.

> By Mann

> MSNBC contributor

>

> http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3972625/

>

> Updated: 6:50 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2004Many women hoping for a more

> natural-looking alternative to saline breast implants were disappointed by

> the Food and Drug Administration's recent decision to maintain the ban on

> silicone-gel-filled implants. But there may be other options on the market

> one day, as doctors continue their quest to find better ways to boost a

> woman's bosom.

>

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> Among the most promising developments, they say, are cohesive silicone

gel,

> leak-resistant implants with the consistency of a gummy bear and a new

type

> of implant shell coating that may be less likely to cause inflammation and

> scarring in the surrounding breast tissue.

>

> " I think we are getting closer to developing the perfect implant, in terms

> of durability, biocompatibility and natural shape, " says Dr. Mark Jewell,

a

> plastic surgeon in Eugene, Ore., and vice president of the American

Society

> for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

>

> Safety concerns linking ruptures of the silicone gel implants to

autoimmune

> problems in some women caused the FDA to ban the sale of the implants in

> 1992, except for use in clinical trials and by women undergoing breast

> reconstruction. While the implants were somewhat exonerated by an

Institute

> of Medicine report saying they do not up the risk of autoimmune disease,

the

> new FDA ban calls for more study before they can be put back on the

market.

>

> 'I think we are getting closer to developing the perfect implant, in terms

> of durability, biocompatibility and natural shape.'

>

>

> - Dr. Mark Jewell

> American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

>

>

> Both saline- and silicone-filled implants have a silicone shell. But if

the

> saline implants leak, deflate or rupture, which they often do, they would

> release only salt water -- not silicone -- into the body. The downside of

> the saline implants, though, is that they don't look and feel as natural

as

> the others.

>

> " Some people are concerned about the safety of silicone gel and many

people

> are disappointed about the performance of saline implants, notably that

they

> are associated with more ripples, have a more liquid feel and don't look

as

> natural as the silicone implants, " says Dr. Grant s, medical

director

> of Marina Plastic Surgery Associates, with locations in Marina Del Rey and

> Palos Verdes, Calif.

>

> 'Gummies'

> Enter cohesive gel implants, which are currently on the market in Europe

and

> Brazil, and now being studied in the United States.

>

> " The 'gummy bear' implants have the positive attributes of the silicone

gel,

> but lack the concerns of gel migration, " says s, who is one of 15

U.S.

> doctors participating in a study of Silimed cohesive gel implants.

>

> Dr. P. , Jr., agrees. " The gel doesn't migrate, so there are

> potential safety benefits because if the shell should fail, the gel will

not

> go anywhere -- it would just stay in one place, " says , an associate

> professor of plastic surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern

Medical

> Center in Dallas.

>

> And unlike saline implants, s notes, " cohesive gel implants feel

like

> breast tissue, not a water balloon. "

>

> So far, he adds, the data and patient response are " overwhelmingly

> positive. "

>

> INTERACTIVE

>

>

> . Key events in the quest for a bigger bust line.

>

>

>

> Last October, 42-year-old Charlie Sheridan, who works in s' office,

> traded in her saline implants for a pair of cohesive gel implants as part

of

> the clinical trial.

>

> " I am sporting a pair of gummies, " Sheridan says. " They have the look and

> feel of silicone, but don't have the hardness or lack of naturalness of

> saline and there is no worry of deflation, " she says. One of her saline

> implants did, in fact, deflate which is why she opted for the newer model.

>

> The companies Inamed and Mentor also are conducting studies of their

> versions of the cohesive gel implants.

>

> Experts in the field say it could be at least three to five years before

any

> such product is on the U.S. market, provided the FDA approves one.

>

> But not all plastic surgeons are completely sold on these new implants.

>

> " The problem is density, " says Dr. Lawrence , a New York City plastic

> surgeon. " They may have value in reconstructive procedures because you

need

> density and mass, but for normal women, they are too dense, " he says.

>

> " Cohesive gel is a refinement of the current silicone implant, but it's

> harder than usual silicone gel, so it's not the total answer, " agrees Dr.

> Rod J. Rohrich, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and

> the chairman of the department of plastic surgery at the University of

Texas

> Southwestern Medical Center.

>

> Another product in the pipeline, he notes, is an implant filler made with

a

> substance called polyethylene glycol.

>

> " It contains a patented blend of polyethylene glycol and saline and

results

> in an implant that has the look and feel of silicone, " says Rohrich, who

> helped develop the substance.

>

> Hopes for indestructible implants

> Titanium-coated breast implants may also be an option in the future. The

> product of a partnership between Poly Implants Prostheses, a French

company

> specializing in implants, and GfE, a German aerospace company, Tibreeze

> implants are coated with a thin layer of titanium and filled with silicone

> gel.

>

> " It's not like you dip it in molten titanium, it's a thin coating that

bonds

> to the silicone, " Jewell explains.

>

>

> Wong / Getty Images

> During a hearing last October of an FDA advisory panel considering the

> return of silicone gel implants, Hiemstra and Beth Nichols of the

> National Center for Policy Research for Women & Families hold

post-surgical

> photos of breasts with removed silicone implants.

> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

------

>

> " Titanium is a more biocompatible metal than even stainless steel, " he

says,

> meaning that it is less likely to cause a toxic or otherwise injurious

> reactions in the body.

>

> Researchers are hopeful that by coating the shell, the implant will be

more

> resistant to infection, stronger and will produce less scarring and

capsular

> contracture, a condition that occurs when scar tissue forms around the

> implant and results in painful stiffness of the breast and possible

leakage

> of the substance inside the implant.

>

> So far, Jewell says, three women have received the implants as part of a

> clinical trial in Germany that began last year.

>

> " We don't know yet if it will have a durability advantage, " he adds.

>

> Lunch-time breast lifts?

> Women can get lunch-time injections of Botox and various facial fillers,

and

> now researchers in Sweden may have found a way to boost a woman's breast

> size during the lunch hour as well.

>

> In the near future, Rohrich says, injections of hyaluronic acid, a

compound

> used to fill fine lines and wrinkles, could be used to do temporary breast

> enhancement.

>

> " It is a non-surgical procedure and can be used to build up breast tissue

> and enhance the breast for a couple of years, " he says.

>

> Currently the injections are being performed as part of pilot studies in

> Sweden by the manufacturer, Q-Med. Enhancements, however, are not

permanent

> and eventually the hyaluronic acid will be re-absorbed into the body.

>

> Peering into his crystal ball, Rohrich forecasted what else may be on the

> distant horizon, including grow-your-own breast implants.

>

> " We may one day make our own implants from our own fat where surgeons

> harvest fat via liposuction and stimulate it to grow, " Rohrich says, " so

it

> will be natural but to grow that amount of fat and grow it consistently

may

> be years and years away. "

>

> Mann is a health writer based in New York City.