HISTOCHEMICAL AND MORPHOMETRIC OBSERVATIONS ON THE NEW TISSUE FORMED AROUND MAMMARY EXPANDERS COATED WITH PYROLYTIC CARBON

The authors investigated tissue reaction around implanted silicone exp anders, focusing on clinical morphological and morphometrical aspects. For use in breast reconstruction in post mastectomy patients, the sur face of a medical-grade silicone elastomer was modified, without chang ing its bulk properties, by the addition of a pyrolytic carbon film. T he presence of lipophagy, the number of foreign-body giant cells of hi stiocytic origin, and the number of MIB-1 positive nuclei (an index of proliferation for the reactive stromal population) were all seen to b e influenced by the pyrolytic carbon coating. Indeed, all these parame ters were lower in the membrane formed around Carbofilm(TM)-coated exp anders, thus demonstrating the effective protective properties of pyro lytic carbon coating. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.