ArticlePlastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open2020
Breast Implant Illness: A Biofilm Hypothesis.
Article in Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Breast Implant Illness: Symptoms, Outcomes with Explantation and Potential Etiologies-A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Heavy Metals in Breast Implants and Implications for Breast Implant Illness: A Systematic Review of the Literature.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Comprehensive Systematic Review of Breast Implant Illness: Symptoms, Management, and Long-Term Outcomes.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Comprehensive Systematic Review of Breast Implant Illness: Symptoms, Management, and Long-Term Outcomes.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Breast Implant Removal and Mastopexy: Indications and Technique-A Single Surgeon Experience.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2026Article
- Breast implant explantation and capsulectomy in symptomatic patients. Is there any improvement with the procedure? Systematic review and meta-analysis.JPRAS open · 2026Review
- Detection to Disruption: A Comprehensive Review of Bacterial Biofilms and Therapeutic Advances.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Clinical Outcomes in Women with Breast Implant Illness After Removal Surgery: Experience from a Latin American Center.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2026Observational
- Pathobiology of ESKAPE Biofilms in implant infections: current understanding and implications for future therapeutic strategies.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
- From Hashtags to Health Narratives: A Content Analysis of Breast Implant Illness on TikTok.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2025Article
- Article
- Breast implant illness after reconstruction with silicone breast implants.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2025Article
- Beyond the Posts: Analyzing Breast Implant Illness Discourse With Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning.Aesthetic surgery journal · 2025Article
- Truth or Myth: Is Breast Implant Illness Really an Illness?Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2025Article
- The Occurrence of Health Symptoms in General Practice Before and After the Explantation of Cosmetic Breast Implants.Aesthetic surgery journal · 2025Article
- Defining Breast Implant Illness: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Patient-reported Symptoms.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2025Article
- The Comprehensive Analysis of Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis and Machine Learning Revealed Diagnostic Biomarkers for Breast Implant Illness Complicated with Breast Cancer.Breast cancer (Dove Medical Press) · 2025Article
- Medical Specialist Care Utilization Prior to the Explantation of Cosmetic Silicone Breast Implants: A Nationwide Retrospective Data Linkage Study.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2024Article
- The Problem of Diagnostic Criteria of Breast Implant Illness in Women After Breast Reconstruction: Review and Discussion of a Case.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2024Review
- Biofilm-derived oxylipin 10-HOME mediated immune response in women with breast implants.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
background"Breast implant illness" (BII) is a poorly defined cluster of nonspecific symptoms, attributed by patients as being caused by their breast implants. These symptoms can include joint pain, skin and hair changes, concentration, and fatigue. Many patients complaining of BII symptoms are dismissed as psychosomatic. There are currently over 10,000 peer-reviewed articles on breast implants, but at the time of commencing this study, only 2 articles discussed this entity. At the same time, mainstream media and social media are exploding with nonscientific discussion about BII.
methodsWe have prospectively followed 50 consecutive patients, self-referring for explantation due to BII. We analyzed their preoperative symptoms and followed up each patient with a Patient-Reported Outcome Questionnaire. All implants and capsules were, if possible, removed en bloc. Explanted implants were photographed. Implant shell and capsule sent for histology and microbiological culture.
resultsBII symptoms were not shown to correlate with any particular implant type, surface, or fill. There was no significant finding as to duration of implant or location of original surgery. Chronic infection was found in 36% of cases with
conclusionThe authors believe BII to be a genuine entity worthy of further study. We have identified microbiological and histological abnormalities in a significant number of patients identifying as having BII. A large proportion of these patients have reported resolution or improvement of their symptoms in patient-reported outcomes. Improved microbiology culture techniques may identify a larger proportion of chronic infection, and further investigation of immune phenotypes and toxicology may also be warranted in this group.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.