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Breast Implant Ruptures Linked to Fibromyalgia
Washington Post
May 1, 2001
Women with ruptured silicone gel breast implants may be at increased risk of the painful condition fibromyalgia, according to the first study of women whose implants were known to have burst.
The study, conducted by researchers from the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, found that when silicone gel spreads outside the border of scar tissue around the breast area, reports of fibromyalgia increased significantly. Fibromyalgia is a syndrome with no clear biological cause that results in generalized pain and tenderness, sleep disturbance and complaints of mental loss.
The finding is the latest in a long scientific debate over the safety of silicone gel and saline breast implants. The FDA took silicone gel implants off the market in the early 1990s because of concerns they might cause health problems.
The new study included 344 women who had undergone cosmetic breast augmentation before 1988. The women had their breasts examined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine whether the implants had ruptured and whether the gel had spread beyond the breast area. The study found that about two-thirds of the implants had some rupture and that gel had spread in about one-quarter of the women.
Note: Since 1992, Lieff Cabraser has been a member of the Plaintiffs' Lead Counsel Committee to represent a certified class of up to one million women who had received silicone gel breast implants. For more information on this litigation, click here.