At Umansky Plastic Surgery, the safety of our patients has always been our top priority. As we also strongly believe in patient education, we felt it important to provide you with the facts on breast implant associated large cell lymphoma (“BIA-ALCL”). BIA-ALCL is a rare and highly treatable form of lymphoma that has occurred in a very small percentage of women with textured implants. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgery “The current lifetime risk of BIA-ALCL is estimated to be 1:2,207 – 1:86,029 for women with textured implants based upon current confirmed cases and textured implant sales data over the past two decades.” It is important to note that BIA-ALCL has not been found in patients with smooth implants.
Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requested that medical manufacturer Allergan voluntarily recall its BIOCELL textured implants and tissue expanders. The manufacturer has since issued a worldwide recall of their BIOCELL textured implants and tissue expanders.
While this type of cancer is certainly rare, we agree fully with the FDA’s decision, as we do not believe that patients should be exposed to unnecessary risks. Fortunately, William Umansky, MD and Jeffrey Umansky, MD have not used textured implants in the past 20 years.
For patients who had Biocell implants placed by other surgeons in the U.S., who decide to replace their BIOCELL textured implants with smooth implants, Allergan will provide smooth implant replacements for free. If you’re considering removing textured implants that were done elsewhere, we respect this decision and will consult with you regarding your goals and options to either remove or replace the implants. Appropriate surgeon, facility and anesthesia fees will apply and vary, depending on your surgical plan. The program will run for 24 months, until July 24, 2021, and will apply to revision surgeries on or after the date of the recall announcement, July 24, 2019.
If you are a patient of Umansky Plastic Surgery and would like to know more about the manufacturer name and model of your implants, we will be happy to provide you with this information. We also recommend annual follow up appointments to check on the state of your implants. If you have any concerns at all about your implants, please do not hesitate to contact the practice at (858) 550-9697 with your questions, or to schedule an in-person consultation with us. We are here for you.