An unexpected Cause of illness… Contaminated Breast implants?

Submitted by GAtherton on 11 December 2015

In 1992, Paula Blade of Gilbertsville Kentucky at the age of 20 underwent breast augmentation surgery. Unbeknown to her this relatively safe procedure would be the root cause of her debilitating Aspergillus infection in the years to come.

Breast augmentation is a common cosmetics procedure with 286,694 procedures being carried out in 2014 according to the 2014 plastic surgery statistic report. The saline implants used in Miss Blade’s case are considered to ‘have a long history of safe use’ by the NHS. Due to the nature of the saline solution, it can be safely absorbed and excreted by the body in the event of an implant rupture.

Several years after the augmentation, Paula started experiencing a plethora of symptoms such as infections, chronic sinusitis and bronchitis which wouldn’t subside along with unexplained sores on her upper torso that wouldn’t heal, running a temperature every day.

She luckily stumbled upon the TV show, ‘Monsters inside me’ in which she saw a woman who it seemed was having similar symptoms to herself. Paula contacted Dr Susan Kolb who was featured on the program and was diagnosed by Dr Kolb with ‘Saline biotoxin illness’. Further examination of the implants revealed “aspergilli-related entities” present in the saline solution within the implants which had leaked due to ‘faulty valve’.

Dr. Susan Kolb urges caution with breast implantation and argues that those who live in a climate where humidity and mould are common may have an increased susceptibility to this Aspergillus related condition. “In general, most patients don’t become ill until eight to 15 years postop”

This story highlights the importance for those who have undergone similar surgery to contact their doctors if they exhibit any of these symptoms, due to possible Aspergillus infection.