Paecilomyces variotii contamination in the lumen of a saline-filled breast implant.

Abstract

This report describes a case of gross contamination with the filamentous fungus P. variotii cultured from an intraluminal saline breast implant removed from a patient 14 months after implantation because of severe capsular contracture. We suspect the fungal contamination occurred when a container of saline was left open in the operating room prior to filling and placement of the implant. This case may be the first documented report of microbial growth and reproduction in the internal environment of a saline implant. We assume that organisms such as P. variotii can survive--and accumulate biomass--on the minute amounts of substrates that diffuse across an implant envelope.