Breast Implants Failure: Correlation of Explanted Implants Properties and Patient’s Clinical Data

Silicone gel breast implants are today widely used for breast reconstruction after mastectomy. Unfortunately, they can cause painful complications, such as capsular contracture, leading to the explantation. This work was aimed at evaluating the effects of the in vivo environment on breast implants, after their explantation, and the assessment of a possible correlation between the status of explanted prostheses and patients’ clinical data (age, implantation time, prosthesis model). Particularly, breast implants in patients treated with radiation therapy were compared to not irradiated ones. The explanted breast implants were investigated by macroscopic analysis and by SEM observation; uniaxial tensile tests were performed on the shells. The obtained results indicate that the radiotherapy and the time of implantation affect the mechanical properties of the implant, causing an increase in stiffness of the shell. In addition, different implants exhibited some cracks onto the surface of the shell.