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| |  Studies Find No Link Between Silicone Implants and Connective Tissue Diseases SAN FRANCISCO, CA. -- September 17, 1997 -- Further strengthening the apparent clean bill of health recently given silicone breast implants, the most recent Western Journal of Medicine, to be released today, reports no evidence linking silicone breast implants with connective tissue diseases such as scleroderma, lupus and vasculitis. The magazine's findings come a day after the National Cancer Institute announced the implants do not cause breast cancer. Both findings come less than one month after a Louisiana jury found the Dow Chemical Co. had knowingly deceived women by hiding information about the health risks of silicone used in breast implants. In the September Western Journal of Medicine, Mark C. Genovese, M.D., Stanford University Medical Center Fellow in the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology, addressed the purported link between breast implants and these diseases. In "Fever, Rash and Arthritis in a Woman with Silicone Breast Implants," Dr. Genovese relates the case of a patient complaining of rashes, pain, stiffness and swelling following implant replacement surgery. After extensive testing and medical literature review, Dr. Genovese concluded that while local reactions to silicone do occur, there was little evidence, anecdotal or epidemiological, her malady was related to her breast implants. Dr. Genovese later diagnosed that the patient was suffering from Adult Onset Still's Disease, a form of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. In a second Western Journal of Medicine article, Donald Whorton, M.D., M.P.H., reviews major epidemiological studies on the subject. He concludes current case-controlled studies as well as other epidemiological data do not support the hypothesis scleroderma is associated with or causally related to breast implants.
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