ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL -- Children of women with silicone breast implants have no increased risk of esophageal disorders or autoimmune disease, according to a new study released by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"This is an important finding for women and their families," said Paul Schnur, M.D., President of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). "All mothers want the best for their babies. This study concludes that women with silicone breast implants can safely breast-feed their infants."

In 1994, a link between a scleroderma-like esophageal disease in children breast-fed by mothers with silicone breast implants was hypothesized. This Danish study examined that hypothesis, looking at a total of 939 children born between 1977 and 1992 to 1135 mothers who had had breast implants in Denmark (at least 84% were silicone gel-filled) for cosmetic reasons. This study group was compared to a control group of 3906 children born during that same time to 7071 women who had had breast reduction surgery.

Both of these groups of women were identified from the Danish National Registry of Patients (NRP), a data bank which keeps files on the public hospital visits of all Danish citizens. All Danish citizens have personal identification numbers which are unique to them. Each hospital admission record includes, among other things, that personal identification number of the patient...child or adult... and codes for surgical procedures performed during the admission. Consequently, each patient's reason for admission , date of admission and patient's name can be easily tracked.

The researchers compared the occurrence of esophageal malfunctions and disorders, connective tissue disease (CTD), other rheumatic conditions, and congenital malformations among the study group of children whose mothers had had breast implants to those of the control group of children whose mothers had breast reduction surgery, as well as to those of the general national childhood population.

The study found essentially no risk of esophageal disorders or autoimmune disease among those children born to mothers with breast implants and concluded that silicone or breast implants are unrelated to either.

The study was published in the November 1998 issue of PEDIATRICS.

NOTE:

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) represents 97% of all physicians certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS). By choosing an ASPS member plastic surgeon who is certified by ABPS, patients are ensured that the physician has graduated from an accredited medical school and completed at least five years of additional residency, usually three years of general surgery and two years of plastic surgery. To be certified by ABPS, a physician must also practice plastic surgery for two years and pass comprehensive written and oral examinations.