Breast implants, rheumatoid arthritis, and connective tissue diseases in a clinical practice

The Association of Augmentation Mammoplasty with Connective Tissue Disease, Including Systematic Sclerosis (Scleroderma): A Meta-Analysis

“…This search identified twelve studies [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]; all studies were read by the primary author. Five studies were excluded from further consideration: two did not have an internal control or comparison group [10,19], two relied on self-reported data derived from mailed questionnaires only to determine disease status in women exposed to breast implants and control women who had undergone other cosmetic procedures [13,14], and one used as the comparison group women seen in a rheumatology practice with musculoskeletal symptoms who may have sought consultation because of complaints related to breast implants [20]. Thus, the meta-analysis included data from seven studies; two retrospective cohort studies [12,15], and five case-control studies [11,[16][17][18]21].…”

“…Several epidemiologic studies have been conducted to formally address the hypothesis that women who have undergone augmentation mammoplasty are at greater risk of developing connective tissue disease, particularly systemic sclerosis (scleroderma), than women who have not had this procedure performed [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. Seven studies focused on the entire spectrum of rheumatic symptoms and/or connective tissue diseases [10,[12][13][14][15][16]20], while three focused specifically on the potential association with systemic sclerosis [17][18][19] and one focused specifically on the potential association with rheumatoid arthritis [11]. Only one of these studies, however, demonstrated a statistically significant association between breast implants and the development of connective tissue disease, specifically systemic sclerosis [19].…”

A Prospective Study on Silicone Breast Implants and the Silicone-Related Symptom Complex

“…Recently, reports have appeared about increased titres of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) in women with SBI and complaints related to SRCS [6,7]. However, results in other studies have suggested that there is little or no relationship [8][9][10][11]. We reported previously in a retrospective study that there was no difference in SRSC expression between women with SBI who were ANA positive and those who were ANA negative [12].…”

Breast implants in patients with differentiated and undifferentiated connective tissue disease

“…However, the prevalence of breast implants in 2 disease-related case-control studies, one consultation based and the other community based, indicates concordant results. In 6,325 records from a single rheumatology consultative practice, 99 of 4,289 female patients (2.3%) had breast implants (25). Further, as part of a prospective case-control study of risk factors for RA (26), 349 newly diagnosed patients with RA were recruited from among community-based patients.…”