EFFECT OF CORTISONE ON CAPSULAR CONTRACTURE IN DOUBLE-LUMEN BREAST IMPLANTS - 10 YEARS EXPERIENCE

Two groups of patients are compared with respect to capsular contractu re after insertion of silicone breast prostheses. Six hundred seventy four women received single-lumen gel prostheses and 700 received doubl e-lumen prostheses with cortisone. The addition of 12.5 mg of predniso lone to double-lumen prostheses diminished capsular contracture (Baker II to IV) dramatically; in patients with simple augmentation from 19% to 4.9%, in patients with subcutaneous mastectomy from 54% to 14.9%, and in patients with breast reconstruction from 64% to 24.4%. The use of double-lumen implants has three distinct advantages: (1) There is n o bleeding and therefore no contact of the body with the silicone gel. (2) There is no danger of ruptured implants, even if the outer shell shows leakage. (3) If prednisolone is administered, capsular contractu re is prevented to a significant degree.