Health Warning: Moldy Breast Implants

More women than ever are getting breast implants. And saline implants are supposed to be super safe. But things can go wrong: hardening, scarring, leaking, deflation. These problems can be bad enough, but now we've found a truly horrifying complication: implants black with toxic mold.

RESOURCES

Implant Info From The FDA

American Society For Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Implant Information Project "I started thinking about suicide." It's a startling confession from a beautiful young woman. It all began when Kathryn Gordon got breast implants when she was 21. "I lived in a beach town," she explains. "Literally, if you didn't have them, you bought them."

All was good for 7 years. Then trouble started. "At little bit of joint pain, my hair started thinning."

When she breast fed her baby, the child developed a mouth infection. "My daughter's mouth was bleeding."

And Kathryn got sicker. She felt exhausted, had severe breast pain, chills, and began slurring her words. "They'd run a couple of blood tests, but there was nothing they could detect."

Barbara West's Report On Moldy Breast Implants "After awhile, I started thinking I was crazy," she says. "I went to bed and I prayed. I said, 'God please forgive me for what I'm going to do, but take me out of my misery. I'm useless.'"

Finally, in desperation, Kathryn saw Plastic Surgeon Susan Kolb. Kolb urged Gordon to have the implants removed right away. And what she found inside Kathryn's chest was horrifying.

The implant had discoloration inside consistent with fungus.

"They were black," says Kathryn. "So of course it would make me sick."

Kathryn had the implants tested. They were full of dead organisms identified as aspergillus niger and aspergillus fumigatis. In other words, mold. There was also a strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

How did it get there?

Implants are shipped to a surgeon deflated, then filled with saline in the operating room. If conditions are not completely sterile, germs could be introduced. That's why the head of plastic surgery at Florida Hospital always makes sure he uses what's called a "closed system" to fill implants.

"We hang an IV bag, and then draw from the syringe through a one-way valve," he explains. "Once the tubing is connected to the impant, there's no exposure to air."

Dr. James Baker is the chair of breast surgery committee for the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. He says there have been a few cases reported of moldy implants but, he says, in some office surgery settings, the risk of non sterile conditions could lead to trouble.

Kathryn Gordon's doctor says she's seen cases of contaminated implants before. Still, experts like Dr. Baker insist it's rare and it has never been proven implants can actually make women sick.

As for Kathryn Gordon, she's recovering from her ordeal, but she thinks women need to be warned and doctors need to be more aware.

"They think it has nothing to do with implants and a lot of times it does, that's the scary part," she says. "I really think I would have died. I really do!"

In addition to the closed system, hospitals use hepa air filter systems to keep contaminants out of the air -- something that's not required at doctor's offices.

So once again, the lesson is to ask a lot of questions. Be sure you are dealing with a board certified aesthetic plastic surgeon. Ask if he or she uses a closed system for filling saline implants. And if the surgery is done in the doctor's office, ask to see their hepa air filtration system.