title: Unusual skin reaction to silicone content in breast implants.
abstract: We present a patient who had a long history of unsuccessful bilateral mammary operations with insertion and extraction of various implants, some of which were filled with silicone gel, others with saline. In addition to complications in the tissue surrounding the prosthesis, she had distant widespread skin lesions which, we believe, were due to leakage from the implant. A cutaneous test with material from various implants, such as the gel content and the shells, caused an unusually prolonged inflammatory response, which was difficult to classify as being either irritative or allergic. Macromorphologically and histologically, the provoked lesions resembled the previous cutaneous lesions. We believe that the patient's complications are due to an unusual host response to silicone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Marcusson
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bjarnason
mesh_terms: D019928:Breast Implantation; D018427:Breast Implants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D015413:Mastectomy, Simple; D008875:Middle Aged; D020034:Silicone Gels / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D012882:Skin Tests; D013909:Thorax
chemical_list: D020034:Silicone Gels