Re: Dr. Blais paper on capsules - with contact info / Terri from Hawaii

[Guest guest]

Sandy,

I had my implants 20 years, I also was diagnosed with anxiety and

panic attacks, but you know what I haven't had one in about 3 months,

I used to get them daily I took Ativan as needed. I am like you I

wont take prescription drugs everyday any more, I have been on tons

of medication for 10 years, for all kinds of things, I am only taking

the flexaril at bedtime and the rest is supplements.

I know I can get better my appointment is Tuesday the 5th with the

surgeon here in Hawaii. He was recommended here on this site, so we

will see,

I hope you can try to relax, I know the ativan worked great when I

needed it, But not taking it everyday,

Lots of tenderness coming your way,

Terri P

Hawaii

>

> Terri,

>

> When is your appointment to have the rest of your capsule removed?

> Please keep me posted as your symptoms sound almost like mine

>

> I do not have the spasming and twitching, or the electric shock

feeling

> How long were your implants in, mine were in for three years

>

> Do you also have shallow rapid breathing along with the fluttering

> These are the same symptoms when I go into a panic attack

>

> These symptoms happened right after my plastic surgeon pulled my

implants out from under my armpits

> I just have a feeling the junk that was left behind was disturbed

in some sort of way

>

> I was on this site called Ban Implants and they had panic attacks

on their symptom list

> Just like myself I believe most of those woman had no knowlege

about capsules either

>

> Since finding all of you and absourbing all this knowlege about the

capsules

> This only makes sense why some of us that have remianing junk are

still so very sick

>

> I sent the below information to my plastic surgeon

> I want this foreign garbage removed ASAP !!!

>

> Sandy~

> dusty.com@...

>

>

>

> Residual Capsule andIntercapsular Debris As Long Term Risk Factors.

>

> Contamination of the space between the capsule and the implants by

> micro- organisms, silicone oils, degradation products and gel

> impurities constitutes a major problem which potentiates the risk

of

> implants. Such problems include inflammation, infection, deposition

> of mineral debris, as well as certain auto-immune phenomena. These

> problems can be present when implants are in situ (in the body) and

> are often attributable to the implant. The logical expectation is

> that, upon removal of the implants, adverse effects will cease.

This

> is an unjustifiably optimistic view. It is well documented from

case

> histories that removal and or replacement of implants without

> exhaustive debridement of the prosthetic site leads to failure and

> post surgical complications.

>

> Plastic surgery procedures tend to favor speed and immediate

> cosmetic results. For these reasons, leaving or " reusing " tissue

> from an existing capsule may seem more " gratifying " However,

adverse

> effects resulting from the practice are widespread but have not

been

> well documented. Typically, patients who require removal of faulty

> implants and undergo immediate re-implantation in the same

> prosthetic site habitually relapse with the same problem which

> motivated the previous surgery; the most common example is exchange

> of implants and/or sectorizing or bisecting the capsule without

> removing it completely.

>

> Such patients rarely achieve a significant capsular correction and

> habitually return for more similar surgery. A more illustrative

> situation is that where patients do not receive replacement

> implants. They form the basis of knowledge for evaluating the risks

> that arise from remaining capsules. An example is described in a

> paper published in 1993 (Copeland, M., Kessel, A., Spiera, H.,

> Hermann, G., Bleiweiss, I. J.; Systemic Inflammatory Disorder

> Related To Fibrous Breast Capsules After Silicone Implant Removal;

> Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: 92 (6), 1179-1181, 1993):

> reported problems derived primarily from immune phenomena and

> inflammatory syndromes with pain, swelling, serologic abnormaladies

> and alarming radiologic presentation.

>

> Numerous similar cases have been noted amongst implant patients but

> have not been theobject of publications. Some are cited in FDA

> Reaction Reports. Others appear in theU.S. Pharmacopoeia Reporting

> Programs.

>

> A residual capsule is not a stable entity. It may collapse upon

> completion of surgery and remain asymptomatic for some time,

> however, it will fill with extracellular fluid and remain as a

fluid-

> filled space with added blood and prosthetic debris. As the wall

> matures and the breast remodels to accommodate the loss of the

> prostheses, the capsular tissue shrinks. Water as well as

> electrolytes are expelled gradually from the pocket or else the

> mixture is concentrated from leakage of water from the semi-

> permeable capsular membrane wall.

>

> In most cases, calcium salts precipitate during that stage and may

> render the capsule visible as a radiodense and speckled zone in

> radiographic projections. Prosthetic debris is also radiodense and

> may be imaged to further complicate the presentation. The average

> size of the residual capsules after 6-12 months is in the 2-7 cm

> range: most are compact, comparatively small and dense. Surgical

> removal should present no difficulty for most patients if adequate

> radiographic information is available.

>

> Later stages of maturation include the thickening of the capsule

> wall, sometimes reaching 0.5-1cm. Compression of the debris into a

> cluster of nodules which actually become calcified follows for some

> patients. A few mimic malignancies. Others appear as

> small " prostheses " during mammographic studies. They are alarming

to

> onocologists and are habitually signalled for further studies or

> biopsies by oncologic radiologists.

>

> In light of the present knowledge and considering the probable

> content of the residual closed capsules, an open or needle biopsy

is

> not advisable. The risks of releasing significant amounts of

> hazardous contamination and possibly spreading infective entities

> outweighs the advantage of the diagnostic. At any rate, such a

> capsule requires removal for mitigation of symptoms and a more

> direct surgical approach appears more economical and less risky.

>

> In summary, a capsule with a dense fibro-collagenous wall behaves

as

> a bioreactor. Worse yet, it is fitted with a semi-permeable wall

> that may periodically open to release its content to the breast.

The

> probability of finding the space colonized with atypical micro-

> organisms is elevated and the control of infective processes by

> classic pharmacologic approaches is difficult if not impossible.

>

> Such closed capsular spaces may be comparable to " artificial

organs "

> of unpredictable functions. Their behavior will depend on the

> content and the age of the structure, its maturity and the history

> of the patient. There is a high probability that these capsules

will

> continue to evolve for many years, adding more layers of fibro-

> collagenous tissue and possibly granulomatous material. If

bacterial

> entities are present within the capsule space, they can culminate

in

> large breast abscesses with will resist conservative treatments.

>

> Even with less active capsules containing mostly oily and calcitic

> debris, the thickening of the wall leads eventually to solid " tumor-

> like structures " and are, by themselves, alarming on auscultation

> and self examination. At best, such structures are unique

> environments for protein denaturation and aberrant biochemical

> reactions with unknown long term consequences.

>

> Pierre Blais, Ph.D.

>

> Innoval 496 Westminster Ave.

>

> Ottawa, Ontario

>

> Canada KeA 2V1

>

> Phone: (613) 728-8688

>

> Fax: (613) 728-0687

>

> Pierre Blais, PhD received his undergraduate and graduate degrees

in

> physical-organic polymer chemistry from McGill University in

> Montreal, Canada, and a Post-doctorate Fellowship in biomaterials

> engineering at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1976

> he became one of the first scientists to join the medical devices

> and radiological health program of the Department of Health and

> Welfare in Canada. He left the department in 1989 as Senior

> Scientific Advisor and formed Innoval Consultants, a firm engaged

in

> the design, testing and failure analysis of high risk medical

> systems. He has authored over 250 publications on medical materials

> and their interactions with living tissues.

>