A 74-year-old woman with silicone breast implants developed a sudden infection caused by Salmonella from unwashed eggs. Her implant ruptured, filling with pus and silicone. Dr. Robert Whitfield says this is only the third reported case of its kind, but anyone with implants should seek immediate care for sudden swelling or pain.
This woman was walking her dog when she felt something pop in her breast, and 10 days later it looked like this. She's 74, and she's had silicone implants since 1985. After that pop, her breast got swollen, red, and painful every day. Her doctor thought it was a regular breast infection and gave her antibiotic pills, but they did nothing. So she ended up in the ER with a fever. The CAT scan showed fluid buildup around the implant, and it looked like the implant might have broken. So they took her into surgery the next day. When they opened her up, there was pus in there around the device, and the silicone from the device had leaked out into the pocket. They took it out and sent everything to the lab. The lab found salmonella around it, the same bacteria you get food poisoning from, even though she had never had food poisoning, no stomach bug, nothing. So the doctors started asking her what she eats. Turns out her neighbor had been giving her eggs and she wasn't washing them. Salmonella can live in your gut without making you feel sick, and small amounts can slip in your bloodstream, especially as you get older. Most of the time your body clears it and you never know. But an implant doesn't have a blood supply, so your immune system can't really get to it. But before you throw out your eggs, this is only the 3rd case like it ever published. Most women with implants will never deal with anything like this. However, if you've got implants in right now, here's what you need to do. If one breast suddenly swells up, goes red or hot, or you get a fever, get seen as soon as possible and tell them you have implants in and how old they are. If you're already on antibiotics, not getting better in a couple of days, don't wait it out. Go back and ask for some kind of scan. can. And obviously, if your implants ever come out for any reason, ask for the tissue to go to the lab. She only got the right antibiotic choice because somebody checked, and that's why we send everything off.
