Silicone fluid-induced pulmonary embolism

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1: Am Rev Respir Dis. 1993 May;147(5):1299-302.Links

Silicone fluid-induced pulmonary embolism.

Chen YM, Lu CC, Perng RP.

Chest Department, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, Shih-pai, Taiwan, ROC.

Silicone fluid injection for mammary augmentation is a well-known illegal procedure. It has been associated with many complications, including local tissue granulomatous reaction, chronic infection, and sclerosis, but pulmonary involvement in human beings has been documented in only six cases. We describe three more such cases of pulmonary embolism. These three patients were all female, young, and previously healthy. They received the procedures only for cosmetic reasons. Unfortunately, one of them died and another lived with the sequelae of pulmonary fibrosis. The mortality rate of the nine total patients with pulmonary embolism induced by silicone fluid, including our three cases, is 33%. Because of this high mortality rate and long-term sequelae of pulmonary fibrosis, no silicone fluid injection should be given for cosmetic reasons, especially in mammary augmentation in which a large volume of silicone fluid is more likely to be used, and the early use of corticosteroid therapy may be helpful.

PMID: 8484647 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Silicone fluid-induced pulmonary embolism. [Am Rev Respir Dis. 1993] - PubMed Result

: Intern Med. 1994 Aug;33(8):481-3. Links

Acute pneumonitis presumed to be silicone embolism.

Matsuba T, Sujiura T, Irei M, Kyan Y, Kunishima N, Uchima H, Miyagi S, Iwata Y, Matsuba K.

Department of Medicine, Okinawa Chubu Hospital.

A 39-year-old housewife who underwent intramammary injections of a proprietary silicone fluid mixture showed clinical and novel transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) findings. She presented with complaints of progressive dyspnea, dry cough, and pleuritic chest pain 2 days after the last silicone injections. The chest X-ray and CT scan showed diffuse interstitial infiltrates. TBLB demonstrated translucent, presumably silicone globules embolized within the pulmonary capillaries. The documentation of intramammary injections, the clinical and radiographic features of acute pneumonitis, and the histopathologic evidence by TBLB, may support the causal relationship between illicit injections and the silicone embolism. We discuss the pathogenesis and urge that this potentially toxic source of pulmonary embolism be removed.

PMID: 7803915 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Acute pneumonitis presumed to be silicone embolism. [intern Med. 1994] - PubMed Result

1: Yonsei Med J. 2002 Apr;43(2):152-9. Links

Clinicopathologic review of pulmonary silicone embolism with special emphasis on the resultant histologic diversity in the lung--a review of five cases.

Chung KY, Kim SH, Kwon IH, Choi YS, Noh TW, Kwon TJ, Shin DH.

Department of Pathology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, C.P.O. Box 8044, Seoul 120-752, Korea.

It is known that the subcutaneous injection of silicone can lead to severe pulmonary complications, followed in some patients by respiratory failure. Currently, silicone is being increasingly applied in the field of plastic surgery and, unfortunately, the illicit injection of silicone fluid by uncertified practitioners is not uncommon in Korea. We offer a critical pathologic review of 5 cases of pulmonary silicone embolism following illegal injection to the vaginal wall, four of which were fatal and came to legal autopsy. Our findings again confirm that subcutaneously injected silicone can gain access to the pulmonary vascular tree and cause pulmonary embolism. The histologic changes observed in the lung are variable and include four patterns i.e., the mere presence of silicone emboli, congestion and hemorrhage, acute pneumonitis, and diffuse alveolar damage despite the severe critical course in all cases. We were unable to find any histologic pattern that correlates well with the clinical course. Apart from producing emboli in the pulmonary vessels, subcutaneous injection of silicone can obviously cause serious pulmonary disease due to its ability to induce acute to induce acute pneumonitis and even possibly acute respiratory distress syndrome.

PMID: 11971208 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Clinicopathologic review of pulmonary silicone emb...[Yonsei Med J. 2002] - PubMed Result **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )