Role of mammography to assess complications of silicone gel breast implants

Abstract

Mammography is not accurate to predict implant rupture in most patients. Its sensitivity rate is only 11 to 16%. However, two mammographic findings appear to suggest implant rupture: the appearance of large areas of implant herniation, and the appearance of silicone globules lying outside the margins of the implant. Mammography is also helpful to predict capsular calcification and to assess certain complications of retained breast implant capsules. Two patients presented with retained capsules which had not resolved, two and five years after implant removal. One patient developed a spiculated mass, suspicious for carcinoma, that proved to be a cystic mass resulting from persistent serous effusion. The other patient demonstrated a large densely calcified capsule which interfered with breast imaging.