Breast of British

By: Katharine Griffiths
Created on 12th February 2012

Recent horror stories in the press about PIP implants rupturing have left potentially tens of thousands    of British women worrying about the safety of their implants. Consultant plastic surgeon Mr James McDiarmid comments on the controversy and explains why he favours British-made implants from Nagor

Earlier this year the French manufacturer of the Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP) was under investigation by the French authorities after it was reported that they had been fraudulently using a non-approved silicone gel in their products for almost ten years.

The company went into liquidation and women were urged to revisit their surgeons for an examination and to undergo an ultrasound. It is estimated that at least 40,000 British women received the silicone gel implants and there have been horror stories about increased chance of the implants rupturing and leaking.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has recently received encouraging results of UK testing on the silicone gel breast implants, finding no evidence of chemical toxicity in the filler material.

We asked consultant plastic surgeon Mr James McDiarmid of McDiarmid-Hall Clinic about his experiences:

“I first saw problems with the PIP implants – which I’ve never used myself – about three years ago, before everything erupted in the press. I had a patient who presented with the most bizarre appearance, as the implant had encapsulated. When I removed the implant, we discovered a white creamy fluid in the breast pocket which was basically degrading silicone."
The patient had been booked in for an uplift with implants, but I felt that I couldn’t just put in new implants as there might be an infection, so first we cleaned the breast pocket, put a drain in and then three months later she had the new implants inserted.

That was my first brush with the PIP saga and since then I’ve removed several PIP implants, as shell problems were more likely than average. I’ve replaced them with Nagor implants which I believe are world-class implants."

“I don’t think there were many independent UK-accredited plastic surgeons using the PIP devices. It was largely financially driven by the chains and basically if you pay peanuts, you get a poor product.”

Breast of British

Nagor is the only British company dedicated to the specialist design and manufacture of high quality implants, with a unique warranty. They supply these products to highly skilled medical professionals.

Nagor has taken an active role in assisting UK patients with PIP ruptured implants by offering surgeons the possibility to replace ruptured PIP implants with Nagor implants, which they supply free of charge.

They also offer a lifetime guarantee to any patients having their implants. Upping their game As Mr McDiarmid explains, it’s not just a question of safety.

“Nagor has done a lot of work on the design and manufacture of their implants to produce different anatomical breast implant sizes that go up in half centimetre increments in terms of base width. Last year they introduced a nine cell matrix breast implant which has established them as one of the leading players in the breast augmentation marketplace.”

This increased choice has meant that across the three different implant products offered by Nagor – the Impleo round implant, the GFX and the CoGel anatomical implant – there are 184 different options.

Round versus anatomical

“I use both round and anatomical – about 60 per cent round Impleo and 40 per cent anatomical CoGel,” explains Mr McDiarmid, “and the Impleo is a fabulous implant because they’ve got a wide range of sizes and they are an exquisitely soft, natural-feeling device.

“The key thing about anatomical implants is shape predictability. They aren’t for every patient, or every surgeon, but in certain cases you can get results with anatomicals that you couldn’t with a round implant. It can produce a smoother taper off from the chest wall, so there isn’t the ridge associated with a round implant.

“Round implants are good for those with a fair amount of breast tissue already and have a tear drop-shaped empty skin envelope, after breast feeding and pregnancy, whereas the anatomical implants are better for those with little breast tissue.”

In conclusion

The PIP implant saga revealed the importance of choosing a reliable, experienced practitioner and products with a sound safety record.

Hear Tracey's Story...