The curious incident of the disappearing breast implant

This month the NEJM reports the bizarre case of a woman who reported that her “body swallowed one of the implants” during a Pilates stretching session. She had previously had a bilateral mastectomy and implant reconstruction.

It turns out that she had undergone a minimally invasive mitral-valve repair resulting in an unstable intercostal space in the region of the surgical access.

The implant was extricated from the chest and repositioned. . . .

Image Copyright NEJM 2012