Nondestructive investigations on ninety-seven surgically excised mammary prostheses

The information contained in the medical files of 68 patients having undergone surgical excision of a total of 97 internal mammary prostheses allowed us to define a typical patient profile at time of first implantation. Age: 33 years 11 months, height: 1.59 m, weight: 51.5 kg, two children. Twenty-one percent of these patients had the operation done subsequent to a mastectomy, while 79% requested it for cosmetic reasons. The duration of implantation was less than 55 months for 76% of the prostheses received after excision. The most frequent evolutive complications were the formation of a fibrous capsule followed by silicone bleeding, as well as mineralization. Macroscopic examination of the 97 explanted prostheses provided information on their integrity (38.1% of prostheses ruptured), gel differentiation (24.7%), sticky surfaces (26.8%), surface deposits (33%), memory folds (54.6%), and Dacron fixation patches (20.6%). According to the medical files, a fibrous capsule was found in association with 69.8% of the breast implants. We received only 46 capsules. The average thickness was 1.4 mm. Mineralizations were present on 15 capsules (32.6%). Two zinc phosphates were identified, for the first time, in human body: parascholzite and hopeïte. Statistical examination showed that Heyer-Schulte prostheses stayed in place for a longer time. Integrity and gel differentiation depended on the duration of the implantation. Presence of mineralization was model-related (Dow Corning prostheses were associated with deposits) and depended on the presence of fixation patches.