Capsular Contracture

Capsular contracture results in hardening of the breasts. It is often associated with poor shape as well. Mild capsules can be treated with increased massage, ultrasound therapy, and the use of the medication Accolate. This can remedy the problem. Severe capsules, however, would sometimes not respond to these therapies and the next option was revisional surgery. This revisional surgical solution involved removal of the capsule in it’s entirety and replacing the implant with a new one. Unfortunately, the recurrance rate, as quoted in the plastic surgery literature, could be as high as 40%.

I had patented, with Stanford University, the collagen coated breast implant in 1983. It showed promise and had decreased capsular contracture in lab animals. Of note, I was invited to a development conference for an FDA approved product, Strattice, approximately 2 years ago. Strattice is made by the Lifecell company, and had been used for years in breast reconstruction and some breast augmentation cases. Strattice is a collagen sheet derived from pigs where the immune rejection antigens have been removed. When implanted in people there is no immune response, no allergy. It made sense to offer Strattice to patients who came to me for help with regards to their capsular contracture problem.

I have now used Strattice in 26 applications for capsular contracture revisional surgery over the past year and there has been a 0% recurrence rate of the capsular contractures. I am continuing to collect this data and I plan to publish the information in a peer reviewed journal in the near future.

http://www.facs.org/