Observational studyBMJ open2022
Patient-reported systemic symptoms in women with silicone breast implants: a descriptive cohort study.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 2 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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- 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
- Article
- Clinical Outcomes in Women with Breast Implant Illness After Removal Surgery: Experience from a Latin American Center.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2026Observational
- Exploring Silicone-Induced Lupus Through a Case Report.Mediterranean journal of rheumatology · 2025Article
- Beyond the Posts: Analyzing Breast Implant Illness Discourse With Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning.Aesthetic surgery journal · 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
- Increased FGF-19 levels following explantation in women with breast implant illness.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Clinical Characteristics of ASIA Syndrome in Patients with Silicone Breast Implants: A Scoping Review.World journal of plastic surgery · 2025Review
- The Role of Positron Emission Tomography Imaging in Breast Implant Illness.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2025Article
- Medical Specialist Care Utilization Prior to the Explantation of Cosmetic Silicone Breast Implants: A Nationwide Retrospective Data Linkage Study.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2024Article
- ASIA Syndrome: State-of-the-Art and Future Perspectives.Vaccines · 2024Review
- The Problem of Diagnostic Criteria of Breast Implant Illness in Women After Breast Reconstruction: Review and Discussion of a Case.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2024Review
- A Prospective Observational Clinical Cohort of Women with Suspected Breast Implant Illness.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Ultrasound versus MRI for evaluation of silicone leakage from silicone breast implants.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Unveiling the Enigma: Exploring capsular contracture-Unraveling its link with autoimmune disorders and comprehensive examination of predisposing factors.JPRAS open · 2024Review
- Silicone Migration from Intact Saline Breast Implants.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveAn unknown portion of women with silicone breast implants (SBI) report development of systemic symptoms, recently named as 'breast implant illness (BII)'. We aim to describe the symptoms and characteristics of women with SBI reporting these systemic symptoms and compare the clinical course of women who chose to keep their implants, to women who had their implants removed.
designObservational cohort study.
settingSpecialised BII out-patient clinic at Amsterdam UMC, the Netherlands, from 2011 to 2020.
participantsAll women presenting to the BII clinic with SBI and systemic symptoms.
results467 women were included for baseline analyses and 398 women for follow-up. Most frequently reported systemic symptoms at baseline included fatigue (88%), arthralgia (71%), morning stiffness (59%), myalgia (48%), cognitive impairment (33%), peripheral neurological symptoms (30%) and lymphadenopathy (22%). Furthermore, 56% reported pre-existing allergies at baseline and positive antinuclear antibodies were observed in 23%. At follow-up with a median of 3.3 years (IQR 2-4), 152 women had their implants removed on clinical grounds. Symptoms improved significantly in 65 women (43%), improved moderately in 37 women (24%), did not change in 37 women (24%) and deteriorated in 13 women (9%). Women who underwent explantation showed more improvement of their systemic symptoms compared with women who did not (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.3 to 6.2). Additionally, women who underwent explantation within 10 years after implantation improved significantly better than women who got the implants removed after 10 years (p=0.007). Lastly, local symptoms decreased from 75% to 34% after implant removal (p<0.0001).
conclusionMost women with SBI who developed systemic symptoms experienced improvement after explantation, especially when removed within 10 years after implantation. Early recognition of the pattern of systemic symptoms in women with SBI is important and implant removal should be considered.
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