Autoimmunity in patients with silicone breast implants: An exploratory review

Abstract

Silicone breast implants are considered highly immunogenic adjuvant devices in the human body, however, the medical evidence linking the development of autoimmune diseases and Adjuvant-induced Inflammatory Autoimmunity Syndrome (ASIA) in patients using breast implants is not conclusive. In the following manuscript, an exploratory systematic review was carried out using the Scopus and PubMed databases, including analytical and descriptive observational studies with no time limit. Twenty-one articles were included, which showed that the main autoimmune diseases associated with this group of patients were undifferentiated diseases of connective tissue; most of the patients presented symptoms such as chronic fatigue, arthralgia, fever, and myalgia. The objective of this study is to synthesize and analyse the current medical literature on the frequency of rheumatological diseases concomitant with ASIA in users of silicone breast implants.