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Understand the 4 different types of breast implant surfaces - what you need to know!

At the moment in the media there's a lot of talk about breast implants being associated with lymphoma, what we call BIA- ALCL or breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma. It is quite a wordy term, so I'm not going to mention that again, but it would be nice to explain everything for you so that at the end of this article you understand all the implant surfaces and their associated risk.

Grade 1 Roughness or Minimally Rough

So grade 1 breast implants are the minimally rough. When you feel the surface of the implant, they feel quite smooth and silky to touch. So some typical examples of this implant category, are mentor smooth surface implants or the Motiva nanotextured breast implants also classified as smooth implants.

So in terms of safety, there has been no ladies with the smooth implants alone with BIA ALCL, so they are very safe with the smooth surface. They only come in the round shape as less texturing means they do rotate a little bit in the breast implant pocket.

Grade 2 Low Roughness

Grade 2 breast implants are the low roughness implants. One example is the Mentor siltex surface. As you can see in the video there's some degree of texture. They do come in both round and tear drop or anatonical shapes and the texturing of tear drop shaped breast implants helps minimize the risk of rotation. Obviously when these breast implants rotate it doesn't look great and will require surgery to correct this rotation.  In this category the risk of lymphoma is about 1 in 86 000, so overal quite a low risk.

Grade 3 Intermediate Roughness

Grade 3 surface breast implants are the intermediate roughness implants.  The Allergan Bio-cell breast implants fall into this surface are in this category.  With the Allergan implant the risk of BIA ALCL is one in 3,345 at this stage.  The company has voluntarily withdrawn and recalled this breast implant from the market across the globe.  However, the TGA or Therapeutic Goods Association  and various experts around the globe have advised patients with these implants not to panic and that there's no need for removal if there's no symptoms.

Grade 4 High Roughness

The final category is the grade 4 surface implant.  They are the roughest.  In this category is are the Polyurethane breast implants more commonly known as Furry Brazilians.  As you can see when you feel the surface it feels like a foam surface.   In this group of breast implants the risk of lymphoma is the highest being 1 in 2,832.

Take home message

So the take-home message is that the rougher the surface of the breast implant the higher the risk of via BIA ALCL.  However, to keep it into perspective the risk is still very low when you compare this to breast cancer.  One in eight ladies in Australia are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, so it is important not to panic if you've got this rougher surface breast implant.  At this stage, TGA has not recommended routine removal if there are no symptoms.  Make sure if you have any concerns, contact your Plastic Surgeon immediately.  

If you have textured breast implants Dr Cheng suggests more frequent follow up checks e.g. 1-2 yearly.

Learn more at your patient Event

If you want to learn more about breast implants and safety, I'm hosting an event on the 22nd of August at Westside Private Hospital. At that time I will talk about breast implant selection, breast implant surgery, and also breast implant safety. So come and join us!!  You can find out more about this event here .  

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