Advanced search
Publication Cover
Expert Review of Clinical Immunology Volume 18, 2022 - Issue 8
Submit an article Journal homepage
1,709
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Letter to the Editor

Bradford Hill and breast implant illness: no evidence for causal association with breast implants

Jonathan Spoora Department of Epidemiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6553-3452View further author information
ORCID Icon,
Daphne de Jongb Department of Pathology, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsView further author information
,
Mintsje de Boerc Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The NetherlandsView further author information
,
Hinne Rakhorstd Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Medisch Spectrum Twente, Enschede, The NetherlandsView further author information
,
Rene R.J.W. van der Hulstc Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The NetherlandsView further author information
,
Marie-Jeanne T.F.D. Vrancken Peeterse Department of Surgical Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsView further author information
,
Eveline M.A. Bleikerf Division of Psychosocial Research and Epidemiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsView further author information
,
Marc A.M. Mureaug Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The NetherlandsView further author information
&
Flora E. van Leeuwena Department of Epidemiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsCorrespondence[email protected]
View further author information
 show all
Pages 773-775 | Received 01 Feb 2022, Accepted 13 Jun 2022, Published online: 20 Jun 2022

References

  • Cohen Tervaert JW, Mohazab N, Redmond D, et al. Breast implant illness: scientific evidence of its existence. Expert Rev Clin Immunol. 2022;18(1):15–29.
  • Hill AB. The environment and disease: association or causation? Proc R Soc Med. 1965;58:295–300.
  • Fedak KM, Bernal A, Capshaw ZA, et al. Applying the Bradford Hill criteria in the 21st century: how data integration has changed causal inference in molecular epidemiology. Emerg Themes Epidemiol. 2015;12(1):14.
  • Healy D, Mangin D. Clinical judgments, not algorithms, are key to patient safety—an essay by David Healy and Dee Mangin. BMJ. 2019;367:l5777.
  • Watad A, Rosenberg V, Tiosano S, et al. Silicone breast implants and the risk of autoimmune/rheumatic disorders: a real-world analysis. Int J Epidemiol. 2018;47(6):1846–1854.
  • Cook LS, Daling JR, Voigt LF, et al. Characteristics of women with and without breast augmentation. Jama. 1997;277(20):1612–1617.
  • Fryzek JP, Weiderpass E, Signorello LB, et al. Characteristics of women with cosmetic breast augmentation surgery compared with breast reduction surgery patients and women in the general population of Sweden. Ann Plast Surg. 2000;45(4):349–356.
  • Barbosa MR, Makris UE, Mansi IA. Association of breast implants with nonspecific symptoms, connective tissue diseases, and allergic reactions: a retrospective cohort analysis. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2021;147(1):42e–9e.
  • Miseré RML, Colaris MJL, Tervaert JWC, et al. The prevalence of self-reported health complaints and health-related quality of life in women with breast implants. Aesthet Surg J. 2020;41(6):661–668.
  • Janowsky EC, Kupper LL, Hulka BS. Meta-analyses of the relation between silicone breast implants and the risk of connective-tissue diseases. N Engl J Med. 2000;342(11):781–790.
  • Hoa S, Milord K, Hudson M, et al. Risk of rheumatic disease in breast implant users: a qualitative systematic review. Gland Surg. 2021;10(8):2557–2576.
  • Kaplan J, Rohrich R. Breast implant illness: a topic in review. Gland Surg. 2021;10(1):430–443.
  • Ameratunga R, Gillis D, Gold M, et al. evidence refuting the existence of autoimmune/autoinflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (Asia). J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2017;5(6):1551–5.e1.
  • Watad A, Sharif K, Shoenfeld Y. The Asia syndrome: basic concepts. Mediterr J Rheumatol. 2017;28(2):64–69
  • Wolfe F. “Silicone related symptoms” are common in patients with fibromyalgia: no evidence for a new disease. J Rheumatol. 1999;26(5):1172–1175.
  • Dush DM. Breast implants and illness: a model of psychological factors. Ann Rheum Dis. 2001;60(7):653–657.
  • Kouwenberg CAE, de Ligt KM, Kranenburg LW, et al. Long-term health-related quality of life after four common surgical treatment options for breast cancer and the effect of complications: a retrospective patient-reported survey among 1871 patients. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2020;146(1):1–13.
  • Alderman A, Pusic A, Murphy DK. Prospective analysis of primary breast augmentation on body image using the breast-q: results from a nationwide study. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2016;137(6):954e–60e.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Order Reprints Request Corporate Permissions

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

Request Academic Permissions

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.

Related research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.