ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/HISTORY n Breast augmentation is the second most common cosmetic surgery (after liposuction), with
nearly 300,000 performed in 2010.1
n Czerny2 performed the first breast augmentation in 1895 with a lipoma. n Through the early 1900s multiple injectables were used for augmentation, often with disastrous
results.3-5
n Cronin and Gerow created the first silicone implant in 1961 with the Dow Corning Corporation. • Introduced in 1964 as a silicone envelope with a thick liquid silicone within and a Dacron patch • Considered the first generation silicone implant6
n Saline implants were introduced in the 1970s as an alternative to silicone. n In 1992 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed a moratorium on silicone implants
for primary augmentation because of concerns about autoimmune and connective tissue disease. • In 1999 the NIH Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences reviewed
17 epidemiologic studies and were unable to detect any link between silicone and systemic, autoimmune, or prenatal disease.
