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| |  Mayo Study: One in Four Women Need Surgery for Breast Implant Problems WASHINGTON, March 5,0 1997 -- A new Mayo Clinic study adds to a body of evidence demonstrating that a large percentage of breast implants create problems that later require surgery. Of these, the second most common was rupture -- when the implant splits open within the body. Mayo found a 3.9% rupture rate after five years -- which is generally consistent with other research. Other studies have shown a 5% rupture rate at five years, and dramatic increases as the implants age -- reaching 65 to 70% in 10 years. Once silicone is released into the body it has been found to spread throughout the body. The Mayo study, published in the current edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, found that nearly one in four women (2%) needed additional surgery because of complications within five years of receiving implants. The study is based on medical records from 1964 through 1991 of 749 women in Olmstead County, Minn. An estimated one million American women have received implants. In addition to rupture, the problems encountered by the women in the Mayo study included dead tissue in the nipple area, contracting of the skin around the implant, infections, chronic pain, and leakage from the implant. The likelihood of rupture as the implants age has been corroborated by several independent researchers. A study published by the Annals of Plastic Surgery in 1995 reported a 71% rupture rate among women having their implants removed, based on the research of Dr. 0. Gordon Robinson. In a subsequent Annals of Internal Medicine article co-authored by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner David Kessler, a 70% rupture rate is cited based on a review of the available literature. Dr. Lu-Jean Feng, a Case Western Reserve University clinical researcher working on a separate study, has found a rupture rate of 68% in implants older than 10 years. Dr. Feng uses ultra-sound diagnostic tests to In the largest study group for rupture research, involving more than 1,300 women to date, University of California research radiologist Dr. Michael Middleton is finding an averaged-out rupture rate of 35% for all Other researchers have determined that once silicone is released into the body it will migrate to vital organs. A 1996 study by a Harvard Medical School team led by Dr. Leoncio Garrido found concentrations of silicone in the livers of women whose implants had ruptured. Women who have had implants say the Mayo study is a further indication they were misled by the manufacturers when they were given a virtual "lifetime" guarantee. "Once again here is proof we were sold a bill of goods," says Sybil Niden Goldrich, co-founder of Command Trust Network, an information clearinghouse for women with implants. "Common sense tells us the lining is deteriorating over time," says Goldrich, who had her implants removed after a series of health problems. "The choice facing women is either get those implants out or risk having them break open inside your body." The Dow Corning implants were sold for nearly 30 years with an informational pamphlet projecting them to "last for a lifetime." Not until 1992, a few months before the company withdrew from the business, was the This Mayo study does not address the systemic disorders associated with breast implants. While the scientific community is engaged in an ongoing debate over possible ill effects caused by internal dosages of silicone, recent research suggests a link to autoimmune disorders. A study at the University of Michigan, presented last fall at the American College of Rheumatology conference, reported that women with silicone implants (including breast implants) are three times more likely to contract Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease. UCTD is a medical term for the In the current edition of the British medical journal the Lancet, another new study reports that women with implants who have an elevated count of anti-polymer antibodies in their systems -- an indicator of immune-system disruption -- are also most likely to exhibit severe symptoms of atypical autoimmune disorders. "Had I known of all these terrible side effects, I certainly would never have chosen to have implants put in," says Goldrich. "And almost every woman I speak to feels exactly the same way."
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