BCNA has been following carefully the current debate about the use of French-made PIP breast implants in Australia. Over the last week, we have had discussions on this issue with senior staff at the federal Department of Health and Ageing, and with Australia’s Chief Medical Officer.
BCNA believes there is no need for women who have had a breast reconstruction with implants to be alarmed about this matter.
The advice from the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)* is that, based on current rates of reporting of implant rupture, there is no evidence of an increased rupture rate for PIP breast implants used in Australia. Further, there is no evidence that supports a link between the rupture of silicone breast implants and breast cancer or the rarer cancer, anaplastic large-cell lymphoma.
Nevertheless, surgeons who have used PIP implants are being asked to contact their patients to arrange a review. This may involve an ultrasound or MRI of the implanted breast/s.
If you have had a breast reconstruction with PIP implants, you may like to contact your surgeon to seek his/her advice.
If you have had a breast reconstruction and are unsure what brand of implant was used, you may like to contact the surgeon who performed your procedure. If, at the time of your surgery, your surgeon gave you a card detailing the brand of implant used and its serial number, you could check the details there.
If you have further queries about implants, you can call the Australian Government’s Breast Implant Information Line on 1800 217 257 (freecall).
It is important to keep in mind that all silicone implants have a limited life span. It is not uncommon for silicone implants to rupture at about, or after, 10 years. The USA regulator (the US Food and Drug Administration) has found rupture rates of up to 27% at 10 years. If this occurs, the implants are removed and can be replaced.
BCNA will continue to monitor this issue and will provide updated information as it becomes available through the News pages of our website.
*The TGA is the Australian regulatory body responsible for assessing and approving new medicines and medical devices for use in Australia.
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