[Internal breast prostheses of silicone: accidents and medico-legal consequences]

The authors gathered the principal information obtained from medical and medicolegal data relating to silicone breast implants. The publications collected and the opinions of various administrative, judiciary and private authorities do not permit at present to determine a complete coherent point of view. The internal silicone breast implants could provoke some inflammatory phenomenons and local sclerosis. The durability and life span of these prostheses is still matter of concern. Though not proved by epidemiological studies the risk of group connective-tissue diseases cannot be definitely dismissed 10 years after the prosthesis implantation, the risk is probably low. Finally the practitioners, especially cancerologists, should continue to use these prostheses. It is to hope that experimental epidemiological research and the progress of manufacturing control allow the use of silicones for medical and chirurgical purposes.