Building Better Breasts
"Back in the Seventies and Eighties, many breast-reconstruction surgeons thought implants would last indefinitely. Now we know otherwise. Some 10-50 percent of silicone implants will rupture within 20 years, according to Richard Greco, M.D., chairman of public education for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. (For saline, the rate is 5 percent over three years and roughly 1 percent each year thereafter.) ... Silicone implants were removed from the market in 1992, when they were blamed for a host of body-wide medical problems (though several studies have since disputed this connection). However, they are still available to reconstruction patients who agree to participate in an FDA-approved research trial. Though silicone carries a higher risk for capsular contracture, many surgeons endorse them. 'The silicone implants manufactured today are much more durable,' says Shermak. 'Silicone looks and feels more natural than saline,' says Greco."
The Georgia Institute for Plastic Surgery offers breast augmentation surgery in:
