SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS: THE RETURN

After more than six-year ban and controversy unscientific, breast implants filled with silicone gel will be allowed again in France, probably by late January 2001 with enhanced supervision.Suspicion that they are concerned because of being raised by the French Agency for Sanitary Safety of Health Products (AFSSAPS).

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Primarily used during surgery, silicone breast implants have been charged for over ten years without a solid scientific foundation, to induce serious systemic diseases (but rare), particularly autoimmune diseases (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc..). These include fractures of prostheses and accidental leakage of silicone in the body that have fueled controversy and made the fortune of U.S. attorneys.Temporarily replaced by saline-filled implants, sometimes inappropriate and in all cases less satisfactory both in aesthetics as texture, a number of women chose to have surgery abroad, where the silicone was allowed.

Returning after ten years of disgrace

In March 2000, a panel of U.S. experts to study the risks of silicone implants has delivered his opinion, innocent and prostheses in the current state of knowledge. Recognized by AFSSAPS, the decision to reauthorize the breast implants in France should appear in the coming days in the Official Journal, together with information to give to women wishing to benefit from such intervention, including possible local complications around the implant and the uncertainty over their useful life.

Some figures

Breast implants containing silicone have been used for three decades in Western countries. The purpose of such intervention is aesthetic or restorative cases of malformation or after breast cancer. In France, 80% are breast implants for aesthetic purposes and the remaining 20% are raised as a result of breast cancer. In 1997, the number of women who wore them was estimated at between 150,000 and 200,000.