colleagues examined the death rates and the causes of those
deaths among 2,166 Finnish women who underwent cosmetic breast
surgery between 1970 and 2000. Most of the procedures involved
silicone gel implants.
Women with cosmetic breast implants did not have a higher
death rate overall than women in the general population,
according to the report in the Annals of Plastic Surgery.
However, the authors did find an "excess" of suicides among
implant patients--10 to be exact. This means that implant
patients were about three times more likely than other women to
commit suicide. Deaths due to suicide were most pronounced in
the first five years of follow-up.
The authors note that the "high suicide risk" observed in
the Finnish women supports a previous study conducted in
Swedish group of breast implant patients.
The researchers emphasize, however, that their study does
not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between cosmetic
breast implants and suicide. It may have more to do with the
type of women who choose cosmetic breast implantation.
"Underlying (mental problems) represents a possible
explanation," they write.
In a telephone interview with Reuters Health, Dr. James
Wells, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons
said "we've been looking at the U.S. breast implant patient
population for many, many years and there has been no evidence
of increased suicide rates."
It is also noteworthy, Wells said, that "the Finnish and
Swedish populations have a higher incidence of suicide in
general."
"That's not to say the finding should be ignored," he
added. "We are clearly going to study it."
Further studies looking at the mental health of breast
implant patients are needed to clarify the apparent with
suicide, Pukkala's team concludes.
SOURCE: Annals of Plastic Surgery, October 2003.