Determination of siloxanes, silicon, and platinum in tissues of women with silicone gel-filled implants.

Silicone [poly(dimethylsiloxane)] gel used in breast implants has been known to migrate through intact silicone elastomer shells, resulting in the clinically observable "gel bleed" on the implant surface. Although silicon concentrations in capsular tissues of women with silicone prostheses have been measured with element-specific silicon analyses, no silicone-specific investigation of these tissues has been performed as yet.A combination of element-specific inductively coupled plasma high-resolution isotope dilution mass spectrometry (ICP-HR-IDMS) and species-specific gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to analyze silicon, platinum, and siloxanes in prosthesis capsule, muscle, and fat tissues of women (n=3) who had silicone gel-filled breast implants and in breast tissue of non-augmented women (n=3) as controls.