New Study: Chondrodynia Simulating Recurrent Breast Cancer after Large Breast Implants + More

Note from Health Lover, Ilena Rosenthal:
http://breastimplantawareness.blogspot.com
We are very glad to see such Studies being published ... this one
in a Clinical Nuclear Medicine in a journal. Implant complications are
many, and those who believe the industry mantra that breast implants
are a 'safe' device ... need to look further at the very real
problems.

I believe that the trauma of breast implants in a woman's body ...
with infections, ruptures, re-surgeries, can and often do cause
various injuries and illnesses. Looking a bit further ... I found a
study from 1998 (see below) with many cases. This sounds very familiar
in the implanted community.
www.BreastImplantAwareness.org/

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http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cos...dritis/DS00626

Introduction

Costochondritis is an inflammation of the cartilage that connects a
rib to the breastbone (sternum). It causes sharp pain in the
costosternal joint — where your ribs and breastbone are joined by
rubbery cartilage. Pain caused by costochondritis may mimic that of a
heart attack or other heart conditions.

Your doctor might refer to costochondritis by other names, including
chest wall pain, costosternal syndrome and costosternal chondrodynia.
When the pain of costochondritis is accompanied by swelling, it's
referred to as Tietze syndrome.

Most cases of costochondritis have no apparent cause. In these cases,
treatment focuses on easing your pain while you wait for
costochondritis to resolve on its own.

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Clin Nucl Med. 2008 May;33(5):330-332.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...t=AbstractPlus
Costosternal Chondrodynia Simulating Recurrent Breast Cancer
Unveiled by FDG PET.
Mathew AS, El-Haddad G, Lilien DL, Takalkar AM.

From the *PET Imaging Center, Biomedical Research Foundation of
Northwest Louisiana; and †Department of Radiology, Louisiana State
University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, Louisiana.

FDG-PET imaging, which is routinely used to assess recurrent
breast cancer, is nonspecific for malignancies and can detect several
inflammatory lesions. Costochondritis following breast reconstructive
surgery, presenting with excruciating chest pain or "chondrodynia," is
a rare variant of Tietze's syndrome thought to occur due to traction
exerted by large breast implants. Diagnosis is usually clinical
because no abnormalities are identified on conventional imaging. Two
cases have been reported in the literature, but none with FDG-PET. We
report a patient with treated breast cancer, presenting with chest
pain where FDG-PET to assess for recurrence was consistent with
costochondritis and peri-implant inflammation.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9...y_RA&linkpos=1

: Aesthetic Plast Surg. 1998 Nov-Dec;22(6):430-2.Links
A variant of Tietze's syndrome occurring after reconstructive
breast surgery.
van Schalkwyk AJ, van Wingerden JJ.

Costosternal chondrodynia (Tietze's syndrome variant) should be
considered in those rare patients who present with severe breast pain
several months after reconstructive breast surgery. The authors
treated 25 cases, 3 of which are discussed in detail, where the origin
of the pain was traced to the costosternal cartilages. The
differential diagnosis and management of this hitherto undescribed
problem after breast surgery are discussed.

Causative Factors


http://www.londonpainconsultants.com...stochondritis/
Costochondritis occurs because of the inflammation of the cartilage
(i.e., the costochondral joints) joining the rib bone and breastbone
(sternum). Other causative factors include:

• Traumatic Injury: This is identified as the most common cause of the
inflammation. A prominent example is a car accident where the driver’s
chest strikes the steering wheel.

• Fibromyalgia: In some cases, recurring costochondritis could be
indicative of the presence of Fibromyalgia, another condition
characterized by tender spots over the body.

• Viral infections: Viral infections, especially the upper respiratory
infections are also known to be the cause of costochondritis.

• Referred pain: Sometimes, the brain misinterprets the pain signals.
Pain in your chest could actually be caused by the problems with the
bones in your spine compressing the nerves.

Treatment Options

The condition of costochondritis is normally self-curing and the pain
usually resolves after a week or two.

Medications are normally prescribed for pain relief during the course
of the disorder. The main amongst these include:

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen
(Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve)

• Antidepressants, especially tricyclic antidepressants, to ease sleep
disorders

• Muscle relaxants

Surgical removal of sore cartilage may also be sought if medical
therapy does not get the desired response. In some cases, alternative
therapies such as massage and acupuncture have also known to bring
relief from the symptoms of costochondritis.