It made headlines across all media outlets: The silicone breast implants sold by a French company were likely to burst, possibly causing cancer in some cases. Haven’t they been examined? Oh yes, they were even CE certified. But the implant maker PIP, that has been closed in the meantime, submitted high quality implants for certification and subsequently sold implants filled with cheaper industrial silicone to the surgeons who inserted the implants. Meanwhile, it has become known that as early as 2000, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already raised concerns about implants made by the French company.
However, in France and Brazil, a total of approximately 50,000 of these cheap implants still have been inserted up until a few years ago. Consequently – as reported by ORF and BusinessWeek – the defective implants have been particularly widely spread in those countries where cosmetic surgery may only be monopolistically performed by physicians of a single medical specialty.
Figures published in the New York Times and by the AGES (Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety) indicate that in the U.S. and Austria, where highly trained cosmetic surgeons of all medical fields are entitled to perform for the benefit of patients, comparatively few physicians have been cheated by cheap implants. Does the interdisciplinary competition possibly promote quality awareness among all cosmetic surgeons? Does the interdisciplinary nature of cosmetic surgery therefore contribute to patient safety?
In line with patient safety, it should not be overlooked that medical-grade silicone is fundamentally not much different to industrial-grade silicone. But, it is still a problematic foreign body after all. Every now and then, the subject of carcinogenesis or the creation of cancer cells is back on the table. In the optimal case without any complications, silicone implants have to be replaced every 5 to 10 years by undergoing additional surgeries.
The use of autologous tissue is definitely more compatible and enables scar-free and absolutely natural breast augmentation. Furthermore, only a one-time surgical procedure under local anesthesia is generally sufficient.
Don’t harm yourself, because there are already better ways! Learn more about breast augmentation with stem cell-enriched autologous fat…