Korean J Med.  2015 Apr;88(4):438-441. 10.3904/kjm.2015.88.4.438.

Alveolar Hemorrhage after Polyacrylamide Injection for Breast Augmentation

• Lim JH
• Lee JM
• Choi SH
• Nam HS
• Cho JH
• Ryu JS
• Kwak SM

• KMID: 2269130
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3904/kjm.2015.88.4.438

Abstract

Polyacrylamide hydrogel is used widely in plastic surgery due to its nontoxic, nonabsorbent nature. There have been reports of silicone leading to pulmonary embolism and acute respiratory distress syndrome with systemic adverse effects. However, there have been case reports only of local reactions involving polyacrylamide; systemic reactions appear to be rare. Furthermore, there has been no report of alveolar hemorrhage after polyacrylamide injection for breast augmentation. We treated a 53-year-old female with an alveolar hemorrhage that occurred 2 days after a polyacrylamide injection. On the day of admission, the patient had a fever with chills and dyspnea. The chest X-ray showed multiple infiltrations and chest computed tomography showed consolidation and a ground-glass appearance in both lung fields. The alveolar hemorrhage was confirmed at fiber-optic bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage. The symptoms and radiology findings improved after corticosteroid administration and conservative treatment. We report the first case of alveolar hemorrhage after a polyacrylamide injection for breast augmentation.

Keyword

Polyacrylamide; Mammaplasty; Lung; Hemorrhage

MeSH Terms

Breast*
Bronchoalveolar Lavage
Bronchoscopy
Chills
Dyspnea
Female
Fever
Hemorrhage*
Humans
Hydrogel
Lung
Mammaplasty
Middle Aged
Pulmonary Embolism
Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult
Silicones
Surgery, Plastic
Thorax
Hydrogel
Silicones