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Case Reports
. 2011;6(1):51-53.
doi: 10.1159/000319499. Epub 2011 Feb 22.

A Rare Complication Following Breast Implant Surgery: Capsular Contracture with a Cutaneous Silicone Fistula after Breast Reconstruction with Silicone Gel Implants

Klaus-Jürgen Walgenbach  1 , Christiane Kuhl, Christian Rudlowski, Martin Poelcher, Axel Sauerwald, Gisela Walgenbach-Brünagel, Walther Kuhn, Michael Braun
Affiliations
Case Reports

A Rare Complication Following Breast Implant Surgery: Capsular Contracture with a Cutaneous Silicone Fistula after Breast Reconstruction with Silicone Gel Implants

Klaus-Jürgen Walgenbach et al. Breast Care (Basel). 2011.

Abstract
in English, German

SUMMARY: BACKGROUND: We report the case of a 74-year-old female patient who presented at the Breast Care Centre with watery discharge from a fistula in the inframammary fold of the left breast. CASE REPORT: The patient initially presented with watery discharge coming from the fistula, which later took on a more viscous consistency. She reported mild discomfort as well as mild erythema. Clinical examination and diagnostic approaches including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a cutaneous silicone fistula as a rare complication following breast implant reconstruction. The condition was treated with excision of the fistula and bilateral implant removal. CONCLUSIONS: This case report documents a rare complication following breast reconstruction with implants, and is to our knowledge the first described MRI-detected cutaneous silicone fistula.

Hintergrund: Wir berichten über eine 74-jährige Patientin, die sich im Brustzentrum mit einer wässrigen Absonderung aus einer Fistel in der Inframammarfalte der linken Brust vorstellte.

Kasuistik: Die Patientin hatte sich zunächst mit einer wässrigen Sekretion aus der Fistel an der linken Brust vorgestellt, diese Sekretion nahm später eine viskösere Form an. Sie berichtete über leichte Beschwerden und eine leichte Rötung. Die klinische Untersuchung sowie die bildgebenden Verfahren inklusive einer Magnet-Resonanz-Tomographie(MRT) ergaben eine Haut-Silikon-Fistel als eine seltene Komplikation nach Brustimplantat-Rekonstruktion. Als Behandlung wurden eine Fistelexzision sowie die beidseitige Entfernung der Brustimplantate durchgeführt.

Zusammenfassung: Diese Kasuistik dokumentiert eine seltene Komplikation nach Brustrekonstruktion mit Implantaten und stellt unseres Wissens den ersten beschriebenen Fall einer MR-detektierten siliko-kutanen Fistel dar.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Transcutaneous silicone fistula of the breast.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
MRI scan of cutaneous silicone fistula.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Excisional pattern.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Fistula from the implant pocket through to the inframammary fold.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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