New York Times Examines Duration Of Breast Implants, Health Risks Of Reoperation

[Guest guest]

Sorry, I wanted to say this came to me from Breast Implant Line of Canada. Thank you Joyce. Dede, honey, I messed up today...this is what I wanted you to have.

I love everyone.............Lea....Rats, Rats.

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New York Times Examines Duration Of Breast Implants, Health Risks Of Reoperation

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com:80/articles/94475.php

[Guest guest]

Implants cause deformaties in Kids too! . . . Not just the woman! Many times the surgeon refuses to acknowledge a woman's issues are implant related, so the problems go unreported. . . while the patient gets dropped! . . =============================http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/94475.phpThe 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," 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," 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 http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company. © 2007 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.