title: Microbial growth in saline breast implants and saline tissue expanders.
abstract: The subject of microbial growth within the saline medium of prosthetic breast implants has been one of great controversy in recent years. Although several articles have described microbial growth within the tissue surrounding implanted breast prostheses, few have attempted to determine the possibility of such contamination of the luminal saline. The authors studied the intraluminal saline medium of a series of explanted breast prostheses with the objective of identifying any microbial contamination. Over a 6-month period, a consecutive series of saline-filled breast implants and tissue expanders were removed from 37 patients. Under the supervision of a microbiologist, saline extracted from each implant was subjected to bacterial and fungal cultures, Gram staining, and acid-fast staining. A total of 24 saline-filled breast implants were removed from 15 patients, and 32 saline-filled tissue expanders were removed from 22 patients. The average length of implantation was 28.1 months for the implants and 7.1 months for the expanders. None of the saline within the implants or expanders within our series displayed any evidence of microbial contamination. These results suggest that microbial contamination of the luminal saline of prosthetic breast implants is an extremely unlikely event.
authors.affiliation: Division of Plastic Surgery, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Center, Women's College Campus, University of Toronto, 76 Grenville Street, Suite 650, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1B2, Canada. information@torontoplasticsurgery.com
authors.forename: Mitchell H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Y Michael
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Markus
authors.forename: Bret
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Belchetz
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vearncombe
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Semple
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development; D018427:Breast Implants / Q000382:microbiology*; D020878:Device Removal; D005260:Female; D005658:Fungi / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D015625:Tissue Expansion Devices / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D012965:Sodium Chloride