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Case Reports
. 2012 Jul;5(3):193-6.
doi: 10.4103/0974-2077.101380.

Evaluation and treatment of surgical management of silicone mastitis

Scott Liu  1 , Alan A Lim
Affiliations
Case Reports

Evaluation and treatment of surgical management of silicone mastitis

Scott Liu et al. J Cutan Aesthet Surg. 2012 Jul.

Abstract

Injected liquid silicone continues to be employed by unscrupulous practitioners in many parts of the world for the purpose of breast augmentation. Complications vary; however, inflammation, foreign body reaction, and granuloma formation often lead to painful and disfigured breasts. Furthermore, migrations of silicone to remote tissues cause additional problems. We present a review of cases and propose an updated algorithm for the diagnosis and management silicone mastitis. We describe two representative cases of mastitis cause by injected liquid silicone. Patients uniformly developed inflammation and granuloma formation causing painful and disfigured breasts. Each patient required bilateral mastectomy and breast reconstruction. Although injection of liquid silicone has been condemned by the legitimate medical community for the purpose of breast augmentation, it continues to be illicitly performed and there exists a sizable patient population suffering from the complications of this procedure. Accurate identification requires a high index of suspicion in patients presenting with firm and painful breasts. An aggressive management strategy is recommended in the setting of silicone mastitis due to the risk of obscuring malignancy.

Keywords: Foreign body; granuloma; mastitis; silicone.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Forty-three year old woman with silicone mastitis presents with hard, painful, and disfigured breasts
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bilateral simple mastectomy with removal of all tissues involved with silicone including skin and portions of the pectoralis major muscles
Figure 3
Figure 3
Immediate reconstruction with bilateral free transverse rectus abdominus myocutaneous flaps
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forty-six year old woman with incomplete treatment of silicone mastitis. Retained silicone results in persistent formation of granulomatous tissue
Figure 5
Figure 5
Algorithm for the evaluation and treatment of silicone mastitis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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